Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Scholars

At any time, approximately 30-40 graduate students and postdoctoral scholars are working on C-DEBI research in the labs led by Co-I’s Amend, Huber, Fisher, Wheat, and D’Hondt, and the Senior Scientists Orphan, Orcutt, Spormann, Finkel, and Heidelberg. In 2016, these graduate students and postdoctoral scholars received a wide variety of professional training that intertwined research with education and outreach, including the participation in research and training cruises, oral and poster presentations at national and international meetings, invitations to focused workshops, opportunities to deliver classroom and public lectures, inclusion in and leadership of grant proposals, and mentoring of undergraduate and graduate student research.

C-DEBI also invests in the next generation of subseafloor researchers via its fellowship program, funding 10-15 graduate students and postdoctoral scholars each year. These fellows have always integrated education and outreach with their research activities, but as of this year, we require a formal broader impacts statement in the proposal process. The cohort of C-DEBI fellows (together with the C-DEBI graduate students and postdoctoral scholars in Co-I and Senior Scientist labs) constitutes a private forum to discuss research problems, professional development, and future employment opportunities. EOD Managing Director Stephanie Schroeder also sends weekly emails with information on a variety of topics from organizations including, but not limited to, the AGU, National Postdoc Association, Council of Graduate Schools, and National Association of Geoscience Teachers.

The C-DEBI Networked Speaker Series is another opportunity for C-DEBI graduate students and postdocs to interact with the larger community. Speakers are nominated by the community and selected by ExCom. The speakers give live, 30-minute web seminars, followed by a Q&A session. The seminars are recorded for those unable to attend, and C-DEBI hosts ~3/year. In 2016, the speakers were postdoctoral scholars: Katrina Twing (University of Utah) presenting the “Microbial diversity and metabolic potential of the serpentinite subsurface environment”; Olivia Nigro (University of Hawaii) speaking on “Viruses in the oceanic basement: An integral component of microbial life”, and Stephanie Carr (Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences) asking “Methanosaeta, are you my methanogen?”.

At our annual meeting, C-DEBI partnered with the Metcalf Institute for Marine & Environmental Reporting (University of Rhode Island, Graduate School of Oceanography) through a C-DEBI Education and Outreach Small Grant to engage graduate students and postdoctoral scholars in an all-day professional development workshop, Building Leadership in Science Communication. The goal of this workshop was to train these junior scientists in effective science communication to a wide variety of audiences. Participants worked with media experts to develop clear messages via op-ed pieces and to practice speaking with journalists, in addition to learning best practices for using visual media. In the evaluation, participants commented that they valued the hands-on approach of the workshop and feel better equipped to address the media and a variety of different audiences.

Lastly, individual C-DEBI graduate student and postdoctoral scholars participated in a range of professional development activities. For example, USC graduate students Lily Momper and Laura Zinke received C-DEBI travel exchange grants to attend the Deep Carbon Observatory week-long summer school; Montana State University graduate student Alexander Michaud presented his research during the Montana Tech Chemistry & Biochemistry Seminar Series; WHOI postdoc Carolyn Buchwald spoke to middle school students about being a chemical oceanographer; URI graduate student Mary Dzaugis worked with educators to develop curricula and led hands-on investigations for K-8 students to learn about STEM programs; and C-DEBI postdoc Ben Tully organized and ran two bioinformatics workshops, one in conjunction with AGU and the other through the ECOGEO Research Coordination Network. We also continued our partnership with the Agouron Institute in the International GeoBiology summer course, one of the top training courses for graduate students. This intense, multidisciplinary summer course explores the coevolution of the Earth and its biosphere, with an emphasis on how microbial processes affect the environment and leave imprints on the rock record, and included deep biosphere-specific content in lectures by C-DEBI faculty. In the evaluations (Appendix G), students listed the collaboration and interdisciplinary nature of the course as the aspects that would most likely impact their careers.

► See more at the Networked Speaker Seminar Series webpage

► See more at the Metcalf Institute Professional Development Workshop webpage

► See more at the GeoBiology Course webpage

C-DEBI’s general outreach activities range from interactive programs that involve a wide audience to promoting C-DEBI through popular media. This ranges from presentations to middle and high school students, general audience research seminars, cruise blogs, and interviews with the media. C-DEBI also funded Education and Outreach Small Grants to extend our reach. For example, Christopher Petrone of the Delaware Sea Grant, produced nineteen 15-second science videos focused on topics such as What exactly lies below the seafloor? More than you think! and What types of science do researchers use to study the deep biosphere? Ten of these videos are also available in Spanish and feature C-DEBI postdoctoral fellow Rosa Leon Zayas. Each video has reached, on average, nearly 300 views.