The 5th
Rocky Mountain Geobiology Symposium
JSCBB Room A115
University of Colorado, Boulder
Boulder, CO
April 22, 2023
Contact:
Next Year's RMGS is now open for registration!
Overview
When: April 22, 2023
Where: CU Boulder, JSCBB A115
Abstract Deadline: February 22, 2023
Registration Deadline: March 31, 2023
Poster Dimensions: 36" x 48" maximum
Reception Location: JSCBB Atrium
Contact: rmgs2023@gmail.com
The Rocky Mountain Geobiology Symposium (RMGS) is the primary conference in the field of geobiology in the Rocky Mountain region. This event is an opportunity for students, academics, and industry professionals alike to gather, share, and learn about the research being done in the community. This conference is focused on early career scientists and caters to a wide range of interests throughout biology, chemistry and geology. The goals of the Rocky Mountain Geobiology Symposium are to strengthen the geobiology community in this region, uplift early career scientists, and create a diverse and welcoming environment for the community.
Registration is closed.
On-site registration is available.
Abstract Deadline: February 3, 2023
Registration Deadline: March 31, 2023
Both registration and abstract submission are completed via google form. Abstracts should be uploaded as a PDF and not exceed 300 words.
Registration is required for all who plan to attend, regardless of whether you plan on presenting!
There is limited travel assistance available to those who, without assistance, would not be able to attend RMGS. This can be applied for on the registration form.
Keynote Speakers
Dan Ibarra
Dr. Dan Ibarra is a biogeochemist and climate scientist working on the water and carbon cycles in terrestrial environments. His work includes studying the response of past and present terrestrial landscapes to changes in climate using modeling approaches, geochemical measurements, and field observations. Broadly, he is interested in the role that Earth’s continents play in modulating habitable surface conditions over geologic time, and in using sediments to reconstruct past changes in weathering and hydrologic fluxes over Plio-Pleistocene to Phanerozoic timescales.
Aude Picard
My research investigates microbe-mineral interactions in the context of microbial physiology, biogeochemistry and astrobiology. The focus is on interactions between sulfate-reducing microorganisms (SRM), which are ubiquitous in anoxic sedimentary environments, and iron sulfide minerals. I use microscopy and spectroscopy to 1) understand the properties and transformation pathways of iron sulfide minerals in anoxic environments and at the oxic-anoxic interface; 2) evaluate if the composition, morphology and mineralogy of biominerals is unique enough to serve as biosignatures for the search of life on other planets; and 3) assess the role of minerals on microbial activity and survival.
Carie Frantz
Carie Frantz is an associate professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah, where she also co-directs the interdisciplinary Environmental Science Program. She is a geomicrobiologist with a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Washington, a Ph.D. in Geology from the University of Southern California, and postdoctoral training at the University of Washington's Applied Physics Laboratory. Since arriving in Utah in 2016, she has applied her expertise in microbe-mineral interactions and climate change to study Great Salt Lake's microbialites. She is passionate about undergraduate research as an educational tool and has engaged over one hundred students in research projects focused on Great Salt Lake and other environmental systems in the region. Although she pretends that she moved to Utah for Great Salt Lake's amazing microbial carbonates, she really moved there for the skiing.
Organizing Committee
Harp Batther
Liam Friar
Tristan Caro
Andrea Halling
Bri Hibner
Sarah Leventhal
Tyler Lincoln
AGENDA
RMGS 2023
8:00 - 8:45 am
22 April, 2023
12:35 - 1:35 pm
Registration and Breakfast
8:45 am - 9:00 am
Lunch and Break
1:35 - 2:35 pm
Opening Remarks
9:00am - 10:30 am
Poster Session 1
2:40 - 4:15 pm
Session 1
Keynote: Carie Frantz
Lake in peril - Great Salt Lake and its ecosystem-critical microbialites
Marisol Juarez Rivera
From ice-covered lakes to soils: what the mobilization of biomass can teach us about environmental change in Antarctic ecosystems
Juliana Olsen-Valdez
“Stable isotope records from microbialite fabrics of the Sheep Pass Formation, Nevada”
Cedric J. Hagen
Importance of the signal-to-noise ratio in global chemostratigraphic correlation: two case studies from the Cambrian Period
10:35 - 10:55 am
Session 3
Keynote: Aude Picard
Role of iron sulfide minerals in long-term survival of sulfate-reducing bacteria
Kaela K. Amundson
Long-term CRISPR array dynamics and stable host-virus co-existence in subsurface fractured shales
Tristan Caro
Quantitative measurement of microbial growth with Raman microspectroscopy
Sierra Jech
Biological Soil Crust Community Response to Future Warming and Altered Precipitation
4:15 - 5:15 pm
Coffee Break
11:00 am - 12:35 pm
Poster Session 2
5:15 - onwards
Session 2
Keynote: Dan Ibarra
The consequences of land plant evolution on silicate weathering and the long term carbon cycle.
Mackenzie B. Best
Ammonia-supported ecosystems in sulfidic caves
Ashley Maloney
Large enrichments in fatty acid 2H/1H ratios distinguish respiration from aerobic fermentation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Kalen L. Rasmussen
A Novel Role for Iron Redox Cycling and Lithification in Microbial Mats
Closing Remarks and Dinner
Code of Conduct and COVID-19 Policy
Code of Conduct
The Rocky Mountain Geobiology Symposium is a welcoming, respectful, inclusive, and collaborative environment. Creating this environment is the highest priority of the meeting organizers and is the responsibility of all participants.
All meeting participants are expected to:
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Treat each other with respect to create a collegial, inclusive, and professional environment
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Notify the meeting organizers if they notice someone in distress or notice a potentially dangerous situation
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Engage in civil discussions
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Attendees will abide by COVID protocols at all times
Unacceptable behavior includes, but is not limited to:
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Promoting/participating in harassment, bullying, or intimidation on-site, online, or on social media
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Taking photos of posters without consent of the presenter
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Harassment including intimidation, stalking, following, harassing photography or recording, sustained disruption of talks or other events, inappropriate physical contact, and unwelcome sexual attention
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Discrimination of any kind
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Physical or verbal abuse including attacks on ideas vs. respectful dialogue
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Threats of professional or financial harm
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Disruption or disallowing participation by others
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Criminal offenses
Anyone who is found to break the code of conduct at any time during the symposium will be asked to leave. Please report any prohibited behaviors to the meeting organizers: rmgs2023@gmail.com. If your concerns are with a meeting organizer, please contact boswell.wing@colorado.edu or sebastian.kopf@colorado.edu. If you would like to anonymously report an issue, please use this google form: https://forms.gle/BnFPMTN8tJEfL2wDA
COVID-19 Policy
Masks are optional on the University of Colorado Boulder campus. Therefore, during the oral sessions in Butcher Auditorium, we will be recommending but not requiring masking for all audience members. Masks will be freely available at check-in. Attendees with fever, severe cough, or other flu-like symptoms are politely asked to stay home.
PARTNERS
GETTING THERE
Location
Jennie Smoly Caruthers Biotechnolgoy Building (JSCBB)
Butcher Auditorium (Room A115)
Driving and Parking
Please park in lot 543 (shown in green). Go to cuboulder.pmreserve.com/ to claim your permit. Enter the code RMGS23 to waive the parking fee. Please make sure to enter your license plate information correctly. You do not need to print out the permit, even though it says to online.