Overview
Our lab is an interdisciplinary group of chemical & biological engineers and environmental microbiologists dedicated to learning how we can understand and work with our natural environment to create solutions for global issues ranging from mining remediation, to bioplastics and biofuels, to sustainable agriculture and even space flight.
Lab News
Here's what we're up to:
Jan 2024: Taylor starts her internship with Bayer Pharmaceuticals
Taylor has begun her co-op and is currently on internship in Berkeley, CA where she is working for Bayer Pharmaceuticals as a Plant Engineer Intern. She also was accepted into a leadership position for Employee Relations in the Women in Technology program. Congrats Taylor! We can't wait to have you back in the lab this fall!
Dec. 2023: Hannah G., Maddie, and Yagmur graduate!
Maddie and Yagmur graduated with Master's in Chemical Engineering degrees and Hannah G graduated with her PhD in Microbiology. Yagmur is going to continue working in the CBE in the Fields Lab, Hannah is starting a remote post-doc with Danielle Ulrich at MSU, and Maddie is going on to finish her PhD in the Peyton Lab. Congrats ladies and best of luck with the next steps of your journey!
Dec. 2023: John awarded the Graduate Partnership Program through the National Institute of Health.
John will be joining Dr. Carrie Long at the Rocky Mountain Laboratories to study the interactions between bacterial pathogens and free-living amoeba
Nov. 2023: Yagmur defends her Master's Thesis!
In November Yagmur successfully defended her thesis from Turkey! Congrats on defending your research, Yagmur!
.jpg)
Nov. 2023: Maddie presents in Washington DC
Just two days after completing her comprehensive exam, Maddie set off for Washington DC to attend the annual American Society for Gravitational and Space Research (ASGSR) conference. She presented a poster about her research on biofilm mitigation in spacecraft water systems, went to a few Smithsonian museums, and ate some really tasty food!
Nov. 2023: Maddie completes her comprehensive exam
On November 13, Maddie presented her comprehensive exam and successfully defended her proposed research. Congratulations on becoming a PhD candidate and officially completing the requirements for an en route Master's degree!
Oct. 2023: Hannah K. presents at the Joint Symposium of the International Societies for Environmental Biogeochemistry & Subsurface Microbiology
Hannah's talk was titled "Differences Between Heterotrophic and Nitrate-dependent Iron-oxidizing Microbial Communities in Bioreactor Sediment Treating Mine Wastewater." You can check out the abstract here!
Oct. 2023: Maddie wins Honorable Mention in NNCI Plenty of Beauty at the Bottom Image Contest
Click on the photo to visit the website to see the full image and the other winners!
Sept. 2023: John organizes backcountry sampling trip!
John, Maddie, Geoff, Brent, and Dana (right to left) spent 4 nights in the Bechler Meadows area of Yellowstone National Park. We sampled multiple soaking spots to map the metagenome of hot springs in the area.
June 2023: Hannah K. presents at the AEESP Research and Education Conference in Boston!
Hannah's talk was titled "Microbially-mediated nitrate-dependent iron oxidation for remediation of selenium and nickel in mining wastewater."
Grant success!
Hannah G was accepted to participate in the Environmental Molecular Science Laboratory (EMSL)'s Molecular Observation Network (MoNet) program! This research initiative is a large-scale effort to catalog soil microbiomes with paired biogeochemistry across the nation. For Hannah this meant the opportunity to collect and additional data for her blue grama field sites that will be helpful in unraveling the influence of climate history on plant-microbe drought responses. Stay tuned for more research updates!
Publication: Development of Martian saline seep models and their implications for planetary protection
Maddie and Hannah G were both lead authors on an article published in Biofilm journal. The paper features research completed in 2021 with the visiting Research Experience for Undergraduates students. Read it here to learn about what terrestrial microbes have the potential to contaminate Mars via uncrewed spacecraft.
Congrats, graduates!
Three undergrads from the Peyton Lab, Lydia, Maddie, and Tasha all graduated this spring with their bachelor's degrees. Additionally, lab member James Vallie graduated with his Master's of Science in Chemical Engineering. Congrats grads! The Peyton Lab will miss you greatly.
May 2023: Hannah Goemann gives her final RIP presentation
On May 5th, Hannah G gave her final research in progress (RIP) presentation for the microbiology department. Hannah discussed her research on Blue gramma drought tolerance and told us about her favorite website EVER which you can check out here!
May 2023: James defends his Master's!
On May 4th (may the fourth be with you!) James successfully defended his Master's of Science in Chemical Engineering on the topic of CBD extraction from hemp! Congrats James!
May 2023: Maddie takes second at campus-wide 3 Minute Thesis
On May 2, Maddie competed in the campus-wide 3MT event. Finalists included judge's and people's choice winners from four colleges around the university. Congrats on the top three placement, Maddie!
April 2023: Lydia, Taylor, and Tasha present at NCUR!
Three undergraduates presented at the annual National Council for Undergraduate Research conference in Eau Claire, Wisconsin! All three received sponsorship from USP for travel. Lydia gave an oral presentation while Tasha and Taylor both gave poster presentations. Congrats ladies!
April 2023: Hannah Koepnick passes comprehensive exam
On April 14th, Hannah passed the comprehensive exam, officially becoming a PhD candidate! Congrats Hannah!
Feb 2023: Maddie Wins 3MT
Congrats to Maddie for bringing home the W at the NACOE Three Minute Thesis Competition! Maddie successfully summed up her entire thesis on biofilm prevention in the International Space Station water recycling system in just three minutes, and made a strong argument for everyone in the audience to learn more about biofilms at the same time! Way to go Maddie, we can't wait to cheer you on at the campus-wide competition next!