Related Programs

http://oregonstate.edu/dept/igert/

This interdisciplinary doctoral program, which ended in 2008, brought together students with interests in microbiology, geology, and engineering to work in the emerging new field of geomicrobiology. It was jointly operated by Oregon State and Portland State University and had associations with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the Idaho National Laboratory. The program was funded by a $2.7 million grant from the National Science Foundation IGERT program and was directed by Martin Fisk, professor of Marine Geology and Geophysics at OSU, and in the last year by David Myrold, professor in Crop and Soil Science. Nineteen faculty who are associated with the Subsurface Biosphere Initiative are also affiliated with the IGERT Program.

http://wrhsrc.oregonstate.edu

This EPA-funded center developed in situ treatment methods for cleanup of hazardous substances, with a major focus on bioremediation. The center was a partnership between Oregon State University and Stanford University and was headquartered at Oregon State University with Dr. Lewis Semprini serving as the center director. The center was  funded at a level of $1.1 million per year for five years but ended one year earlier due to EPA budget cuts by the Bush Administration. Many of the faculty associated with the Subsurface Biosphere Initiative performed research related to the bioremediation of hazardous substances and were affiliated with the WRHSRC.

http://www.fsl.orst.edu/lter

The H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest was established in 1948. During its first 20 years, research focused on management effects on watersheds, soils, and vegetation. In the 1970's it was a center for ecosystem research as part of the International Biological Programme-Coniferous Forest Biome. In 1980, the Forest became a member of the first cohort of the National Science Foundation's Long-term Ecological Research sites and research emphasis moved towards interdisciplinary studies. With more than 50 years of research history, the 6400-ha site is a valuable resource for subsurface biosphere studies. Examples include studies of nutrient cycling in the hyporheic zones of streams, long-term decomposition studies of coarse woody debris, nitrogen and carbon cycling in soils, and diversity of soil microorganisms.

http://www.iodp.org/

Marine hydrothermal vents were discovered by OSU scientists in 1977. This discovery revealed an ecosystem driven by the Earth’s chemical energy and suggested that a subsurface biosphere existed beneath the ocean floor. IODP is an international program to collect subseafloor samples with ocean going drilling ships, and one primary goal of IODP is to understand the abundance and variety of microbes below the sea floor and their impact on cycling of key elements such as carbon, calcium, sulfur, iron and other metals between the oceans and the sea floor. Martin Fisk, professor of Marine Geology and Geophysics at OSU has been an advocate and participant in outfitting the drilling ship with a microbiology lab and was one of the first to use the lab to determine abundance of microbes in the sea floor.