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Chelsea Vickers
Position: Masters Student 100 words about your scientific interest: Current interests are connected to microbial adaptations in extreme environments and phylogenetic analysis. I am currently investigating the adaptations present in the Tramway Ridge microbial community of Mount Erebus, Antarctica. This project is largely cultivation based to detect the unique physiological adaptations and metabolic ranges of novel extremophiles, while allowing strong phylogenetic identification. Metagenomics is also becoming of greater interest, in particular the current metagenome construction of Mount Erebus geothermal subsurface soils. 100 words about what you do for ICTAR: I am linked to the Mount Erebus project (KO23). This is a multiyear large scale project investigating the unique microbial communities present in geothermal subsurface soils. The project is incorporating both large scale cultivation efforts and genetic based analysis of communities present at geothermal hotspots on the Volcano. As part of my masters project I will be focusing on developing targeted media designs to capture the unique microorganisms present at the geothermal ASPA (Antarctic Specially Protected Area) of Tramway Ridge, located about 1.5km north-west of the active crater. Characterisation of these cultivated bacteria alongside genetic analysis such as metagenomics, and 454 16s gene sequencing, will allow us to gain greater insight into this unique microbial community.
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