Dr. Felisa Wolfe-Simon

Metal clean "chemostat" custom made by Felisa.

Paul and I are examining desert varnish from the Atacama! Thank Chris McKay!

Felisa with Templeton Award winning Cosmologist Dr. Paul Davies.

Never in my life have I smelled something so reminiscent of what the early Earth may have been like. I mean, wow!

Dr. Ron Oremland and Felisa in the field at Mono Lake collecting core samples and mud.
(photo credit: © 2009 Henry Bortman)

Felisa spent time on the beamline, 2-3 to be exact, at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource. She was interested in looking at, what else, arsenic in a variety of samples. Here, Dr. Sam Webb lends his expertise and guidance as he loads one of her samples into the hutch for analyses. Dr. Webb has pioneered this technique and has made substantial contributions to this field in the micro-study of bioinorganic chemistry among many different contributions.

Felisa caught up with Dr. Antígona Segura at the 2009 AGU. As a professor at the Instituto de Ciencias Nucleares at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Dr. Segura probes the potential for habitability of planets around other types of stars in the Universe.

What I like best about this photo, is the proximity of the 'Emergency Exit'- not sure if that's for Ariel or I!

Dr. Ariel Anbar- astrobiogeochemist extraordinaire- and Felisa at the 2009 AGU. Dr. Anbar has spearheaded the NASA supported Astrobiology Institute based at Arizona State University. His early work on Mo and Fe isotopes has shaped our understanding of modern and ancient ocean environments and will lend insight into habitability elsewhere in the Universe.

Felisa and Dr. Marcelo Guzman analyzing arseno-organics on a TOF-MS. Dr. Guzman is best known for his work teasing out how abiotic UV-induced catalysis of inorganic carbon compounds on metal sulfides may mimic the rTCA cycle and lend insight in to early prebiotic chemsitry.

Dr. Inge Loes ten Kate shows Felisa the finer points of Dutch coffee enjoyment. Dr. ten Kate is a NASA scientist-engineer who seeks to see the who, what, where, and how of measuring life's small signals on Earth and elsewhere in the Universe.

Improptu incubator for cell maintenance built jointly by Felisa and Whitney Wells.

Nancy is ever talented and brilliant and definitely in my camp of favorite women in science....we should really make that calendar....

Dr. Nancy Kiang, a NASA scientist at the Goddard Institute for Space Studies, and Felisa at the 2009 AGU. From understanding the interactions between the biosphere and the atmosphere, as a biometeorologist, Dr. Kiang streches her research to include terrestrial biogeochemistry as well as the potential for photosynthesis on other planets around other stars.

I am inspired by Senor Lazcano's depth of understanding not just the HOW and WHAT of science, especially the origins of life areas, but also the social and political implications of science. Very inspiring- this sort of breadth of understanding.

Dr. Antonio Lazcano (UNAM, Mexico) and Felisa joined up as part of the Segunda Escuela de Astrobiologia in Montevideo, UY. Felisa was sent by NASA to this UNESCO sponsored event to speak about microbes: what we know and how to look for what we don't know! (You bet she talked about photosynthesis, arsenic and metals!) Of course, Dr. Lazcano's expertise and insight in to the origins and evolution of biological systems was heralded as a great success there!

And honestly, I thought I would be taller!

Thermo Neptune MC-ICP-MS at Arizona State. Note, Felisa here for scale.

You want Rio Tinto...I'll show you Rio Tinto! ;)

A rare moment of joviality for Felisa and Dr. Ricardo Amils at the Segunda Escuela de Astrobiologia. Dr. Amils has lead the pack in astrobiological endeavors focused on that magical microbial paradise Rio Tinto in Spain.

Douwe, someday you and I will figure out once and for all who wins, biology or geology :)

After the long week of AGU 2009, Felisa and Dr. Douwe van Hinsbergen took a break and joined a group exploring the geology and marine ecology of Alcatraz. Dr. van Hinsbergen explored the tectonics and sedimentology on Earth over a variety of time scales.

Just when I was thinking I may be a bit taller...

Felisa got a change to chat with Dr. Ivano Bertini at ACS. Dr. Bertini has made significant contributions to the structure and function of metalloproteins. In particular, his promotion of "mechanistic structural biology" is a major new way to understand the role and evolution of metallorproteins in biology.

I apply a background in molecular biology, biochemistry, and phytoplankton physiology to uncover the sequence of events that shaped the evolution of the modern oceans phytoplankton and life itself. Essentially, I seek to unravel details regarding the co-evolution of life and Earth. Want to hear me talk about some details? Check out this podcast.

Contact

Evolutionary Metallomics and Geobiochemistry

I am back to the West Coast! In the Bay Area? Let me know!

**Note new email
(this may be the most stable, but others you can find will likely get to me)
felisawolfesimon [at] gmail.com
and
skype: felisawolfesimon
and
mobile: 732.718.8855

U.S. Geological Survey
345 Middlefield Rd
MS 480
Menlo Park, CA 94025
Office: 650-329-4426

Hello world

For my undergraduate work, I completed a double-degree program including a B.A. in Biology (Chemistry) along with a B.M. in Oboe Performance at Oberlin College and Conservatory of Music. I finished my Ph.D. in Oceanography at the Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences at Rutgers University. My dissertation work focused on the evolution and selection of the powerful metalloenzyme antioxidant superoxide dismutase and its biogeochemical evolution in phytoplankton. I was a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow and also awarded a 2009 NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI) DDF grant. Currently, I am a NASA NPP Fellow through the NAI working jointly between the ASU NAI team and at the USGS with Dr. Ron Oremland pursuing As-biogeochemistry, cyanobacteria, novel uses for as yet undescribed metalloenzymes and of course, arsenic-based life!

A few of the organisms often used for experiments. These particular species are currently maintained by Felisa and Yelun Qin as part of a study examing N isotopes. Identification from left to right: Nostoc sp. PCC 7120, Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii CC125, Prochlorococcus marinus MED4, Synechococcus sp. WH8102 and Rhodopseudomonas palustris CGA009.

News Flash

Aug 2010: Studying for your quals? Confused about anaerobic methane oxidation? Well, you're in luck! Dr. Ron Oremland and Felisa have sorted it all out...or have they!. Watch carefully, see if you can spot all the different types of respiration and metabolic concepts they are throwing around! Redox- its what makes life, well, life.

July 2010: Catch Felisa on WED JULY 7 @ 10pm on the SCIENCE CHANNEL in an eposide of Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman. She cautiously describes some of the edges of her current findings without giving too much away. If you miss it, check back and the clips will be posted here.

February 2010: It's official! Felisa has been selected for a NASA Astrobiology Institute Fellowship! As a NASA fellow, she now has the support and time to continue in hot pursuit of all things arsenic-based in collaboration with the ASU NAI team and the U.S. Geological Survey. Her current data are so exciting she can't discuss them, even here! A few more experiments and she should have all the data she needs to demonstrate her hypothesis may well be verified...stay tuned. But really, in the end, its not just about arsenic. It is about looking at what is and thinking about what might be and, importantly, how to find it. When the dust settles, we will then see how we can and should "Follow the Elements" to lead us to what we might think of as new and novel "biology"- seemingly alien and yet potentially all around us! Iron, arsenic, copper, bismuth... its a whole periodic table out there. And yes, you too may be "off your trolley " enough to jump in! But high risk, high gain....and the future of science! These data will speak louder than any speculation... again, stay tuned...

Hitting the real stide of her Ph.D. dissertation work, check out Jen's recent article just out in Limnology and Ocenaography (Glass, Wolfe-Simon, Elser & Anbar, Limnol. Ocean. 2010). Here Jen continues to probe the relationship between Mo and N but this time with experimental work encompassing physiology, genetics and biochemistry of the Nostocales order of Cyanobacteria. Great job Jen! Keep them coming.

**Heads up! Felisa will be at this year's AGU Fall Meeting in San Francisco, Dec. 14-18, 2009. If you want to meet and chat science over a coffee (or better, a local beer or wine!) drop her a text or email.

Reporting from Felisa's recent field expedition to Mono Lake, science writer Henry Bortman joined her and her colleagues including Ron Oremland, Shelley Hoeft, Tom Kulp,and Larry Miller (USGS Menlo Park), Michael Rosen (USGS Carson City), Tom Crowe (Mono Lake naturalist), John Stolz (Duquesne) and John Coates (UC Berkeley) to be on the ground during the first sampling trip on the hunt for arsenolife and unique photosynthetic uses of arsenic. Read his article and check out the NAI blurb.

Looking for alternative life is one thing, but how well do we know the organisms right here on Earth? Given the significant imapct biology has had on the biogeochemistry of Earth, it is critical to recognize the flexibility of the microbes so familiar to us. In a recent paper in PNAS (Johnston*, Wolfe-Simon*, Pearson & Knoll 2009), Felisa and her coauthors explore what the potential impact cyanobacteria along with other microbes engaging in ANOXYGENIC photosynthesis would have had on Earth's middle age. Another way to see physiology and life as we know it- in a way we don't often think about it. Even the life we do know can do things we may not be attributing to them!

Interested in what the fuss is all about with arsenic? Check out the new paper lead by Ron Oremland out in Geomicrobiology Journal (Oremland, Saltikov, Wolfe-Simon & Stolz 2009) where the authors explore the unique and peculiar insight arsenic lends towards understanding life on our planet and the pontential elsewhere. This is not just about arsenic, it is about looking at life as we know it from every angle to help understand life as we may not yet know it. Enjoy!

Starting in August 2009, Felisa will embark on her recently funded NASA Astrobiology Institute project to uncover new and novel uses of arsenic joint with the ASU NAI and MIT NAI teams in close collaboration with Ron Oremland at the USGS. She heads to Mono Lake, CA to obtain samples to begin to cultivate and identify organisms of interest including photosynthetic and the potential assimilating arsenophile. Stay tuned for details and future manuscripts related to this work.

Want to see and hear Felisa in action? On Tuesday, May 5 2009 she was at the Unviersity of Washington giving a lecture as part of their Astrobiology seminar series. Now even if you are millions of miles away (for example, on Titan perhaps. Or even Enceladus..), it is available to catch online. She went through some of the work related to Mn and diatoms, Cu and Fe and phytoplankton and also brought in her arsenic story and her recently funded NASA NAI Astrobiology proposal research. Enjoy! (Note: to see other great talks by some of the giants in this field, check out the NASA NAI website!)

As promised, the "Shadow Biosphere" paper is now out and Felisa encourages you to read it. She was fortunate to be part of a stellar group of scientists that Paul Davies assembled to go "BEYOND" and think deeply about how we might look for life we don't know. Enjoy! (Davies, Benner, Cleland, Lineweaver, McKay & Wolfe-Simon. Astrobiology 2009).

It is finally published! Read Felisa's recent manuscript at the International Journal of Astrobiology and the details of the hypothesis of arsenic-life she developed with Paul Davies and Ariel Anbar. Stay tuned for another recent paper where Felisa has joined forces with a diverse crowd of scientists interested in discovery of the "Shadow Biosphere" due out in Astrobiology soon. The projects are moving forward! Look for a few more manuscripts to come out shortly! (Wolfe-Simon, Davies, & Anbar, International Journal of Astrobiology 2009)

Interested in the evolution of the nitrogen cycle and trace metals? Read Jennifer Glass' recent sysnthesis (Glass, Wolfe-Simon & Anbar, Geobiology 2009) of what is known, what she is doing and what we need to do now to more fully explore and understand this incredibly complex biogeochemical cycle! Great job Jen!

Just out, Felisa was interviewed by Michael Reilly of New Scientist on the details of her recent arseno-life hypothesis. Check it out and enjoy comments by both Paul Davies and Steve Benner. Now let's get back in lab and dig in the field and test these ideas! Interested? Drop Felisa a line for a potential future project.

Hear Paul Davies, John Baross, David Grinspoon and Felisa talk about the possibility of alternative life here on Earth in this BBC World Report interview by Pauline Newman.

Why Ironlisa?

I received this pseudonym when I was working as an undergraduate intern in Dr. D. Wayne Coats' lab at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center. I was running experiments testing the affects of different iron concentrations on the dinoflagellate Gyrodinium uncatenum and the parasite Amoebophrya ceratii. Wayne labeled a few folders with my work as either Fe²⁺ lisa or Fe³⁺ lisa (spelling my name with the chemical symbol for iron- that is "Fe" in one of its two common redox states). Once a few colleagues found out- the name caught. Since I have continued a deep interest in iron cycling and synergistic iron and other metal interactions and phytoplankton- I acquiesced and kept the name. Because, in the end, my name Felisa really does translate to: ironlisa.