Public release date: 25-May-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: WHOI Media Relations Office media@whoi.edu 508-289-3340 Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) has chosen Karen Lloyd, an assistant professor in the Department of Microbiology at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, as the recipient of the Holger W. Jannasch Visiting Scholar Award.

The award recognizes Lloyd for her "outstanding contributions to the field of marine microbiology," as well as her demonstrated excellence in mentoring students and commitment to educational public outreach.

Lloyd is currently pushing the frontiers of the field by analyzing the diversity and function of yet-to-be cultivated bacteria and archaeaa group of single-celled microorganismsin deep subseafloor sediments using single-cell genomics and other cutting-edge techniques. Her research focuses on linking uncultivated microorganisms to their geochemical functions and exploring how these communities react to changing environmental conditions.

Lloyd will visit WHOI the week of July 9-13, 2012, and present two lectures to students and scientists in the Woods Hole community. The first talk, on a general scientific topic, will be Monday, July 9, 2012, at 3 p.m. in Redfield Auditorium. Lloyd will present a second talk, which will focus on her research, Wednesday, July 11, 2012, at noon in Clark 507.

"This is a wonderful opportunity to recognize a talented young microbiologist while celebrating the legacy of Holger Jannasch, who shaped the field of marine microbiology," said WHOI Biology Department Chair Mark Hahn.

The visiting scholar award is named in memory of Jannasch, a WHOI senior scientist in the Biology Department and world-renowned, deep-sea microbiologist, who died in 1998. During his illustrious career, he isolated and cultivated many microbes, studied their physiology and adaptations to the environment, and explored associations between microbes and animals. He also was involved in designing sophisticated instrumentation for collecting and culturing bacteria, as well as to measure rates of microbial activity in the deep-sea. Jannasch and his WHOI colleagues performed pioneering work investigating microbial decomposition rates in the deep sea.

Following the discovery of deep-sea hydrothermal vents in the late 1970s, Jannasch's lab again played an instrumental role in identifying chemosynthesis as the nutritional basis for life at deep-sea vents, which has had major implications for deep-sea microbial ecology and the way we think about the origin of life on Earth.

"My first exposure to oceanography was working as a lab technician at WHOI for Andreas TeskeHolger Jannasch's successora year after Dr. Jannasch's passing. His work influenced nearly every aspect of the field of deep sea microbiology, and I am honored to receive the award that bears his name," Lloyd said.

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Dr. Karen Lloyd receives WHOI's Holger W. Jannasch Visiting Scholar Award