BackgroundI was trained as a synthetic chemist at the University of Southern California. In my senior year, I decided to make the transition to pursue research in Marine Geochemistry. I quickly found my passion in pursuing questions dealing with origin of life, trace metal cycling, and biogeochemistry. For my PhD, I pursued questions involving Fe and C cycling at Mid-Oceanic Ridge hydrothermal vents (underwater volcanoes). I am currently expanding on these themes as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Washington.
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Specialties
Biogeochemistry
The discipline of biogeochemisty combines understanding the biological, chemical, geological, and physical interactions of a specific environment. It is a holistic way of study natural environments, and their internal systems.
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Chemical OceanographyGlobal chemical cycles are currently a large area of study. In the ocean, studying global inputs, outputs, and speciation aid in understanding questions about bioavailability and sources/sinks of a nutrient.
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Synchrotron TechniquesA synchrotron light source is powerful instrument that aids in addressing questions in physics, material sciences, environmental sciences, biology, and medicine. Investigating and visualizing these fine-scale interactions aid in answering basic chemical and physical interactions of elements within a given system.
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Extreme EnvironmentsThe deep biosphere to hydrothermal vents. All these areas explore questions about the limits of life and how they survive. Understanding these environments, could aid us in learning about our own planet and hypothesize about how life might survive on another.
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All photos are the property of Colleen L. Hoffman, unless otherwise noted.
The views and opinions on this page are those of the author. All rights reserved.
The views and opinions on this page are those of the author. All rights reserved.