Victoria Orphan

Victoria J. Orphan is a geobiologist at the California Institute of Technology who studies the interactions between marine microorganisms and their environment.[1][2] As of 2020, she is the Chair for the Center of Environmental Microbial Interactions.

Victoria Orphan
NationalityAmerican
Alma materUniversity of California, Santa Barbara
Known forGeobiologist
Awards
  • MacArthur Fellowship
  • Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation Investigator Award
  • DOE Early Career Research Award
  • National Research Council Fellowship
Scientific career
FieldsGeobiology
InstitutionsCalifornia Institute of Technology

Education

Victoria Orphan received her B.A. in Aquatic Biology (1994) and Ph.D. in Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology (2001) from the University of California, Santa Barbara.[3] She served as a National Research Council fellow at the NASA Ames Research Center (2002-2004) before joining the Geobiology faculty at California Institute of Technology.[4]

Career

Orphan is the James Irvine Professor of Environmental Science and Geobiology at the California Institute of Technology.[5] She has also been an adjunct scientist at Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) since 2009[6] and Senior Scientist of the Center for Dark Energy Biosphere Investigations, a Science and Technology Center funded by the National Science Foundation and headquartered at the University of Southern California.[7] As of 2020, she is the Alan V.C. Davis and Lenabelle Davis Leadership Chair for the Center of Environmental Microbial Interactions.[8][9]

Research

Orphan's research integrates molecular, microscopy, and geochemical techniques to improve understanding of various processes, including those that serve as the primary sink for the greenhouse gas methane in the ocean.[10] She focuses on microbially-mediated anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) in deep sea sediment.[11] Specifically, she looks at the relationships between two groups of marine microbes: archaea and bacteria. Orphan uses tools such as nanoSIMS to visualize these organisms at the microscale and track how and when they exchange energy.[12] Through her research, Orphan has helped develop novel stable isotope applications that provide insight into the relationship between microbes and large-scale geochemical processes.[13]

Honors and awards

References
  1. "MacArthur winner Victoria Orphan showed how deep-sea microbes keep greenhouse gas out of the atmosphere". Los Angeles Times. 2016-09-21. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2017-03-08.
  2. "Orphan Lab". orphanlab.caltech.edu. Retrieved 2017-03-08.
  3. "Caltech Environmental Science and Engineering". www.ese.caltech.edu. Retrieved 2017-03-08.
  4. "Schmidt Ocean Institute". Schmidt Ocean Institute. Retrieved 2020-01-30.
  5. "Victoria J. Orphan | www.gps.caltech.edu". www.gps.caltech.edu. Retrieved 2016-12-08.
  6. "MBARI Adjunct Victoria Orphan receives "genius grant"". Retrieved 2016-12-08.
  7. "People". www.darkenergybiosphere.org. Retrieved 2016-12-08.
  8. "Victoria J. Orphan | Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences". www.gps.caltech.edu. Retrieved 2020-03-07.
  9. "Center for Environmental Microbial Interactions". microbiology.caltech.edu. Retrieved 2020-03-07.
  10. "Schmidt Ocean Institute". Schmidt Ocean Institute. Retrieved 2020-01-30.
  11. "| NASA Astrobiology Institute". nai.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2017-03-08.
  12. "Superorganisms are changing our understanding of life — NOVA Next | PBS". NOVA Next. 2016-04-20. Retrieved 2017-03-08.
  13. "Simons Foundation | Advancing Research in Basic Science and Mathematics". Simons Foundation. Retrieved 2020-01-30.
  14. Stoeter, Author Sarah. "Victoria Orphan, NOMIS Distinguished Scientist Awardee 2018". The NOMIS Foundation. Retrieved 2019-03-26.
  15. "Victoria Orphan — MacArthur Foundation". www.macfound.org. Retrieved 2016-12-08.
  16. "Grant Detail". www.moore.org. Retrieved 2017-03-08.
  17. "DOE Early Career Awards". DOE. 2016-05-04. Retrieved 2017-03-08.
  18. "Grant Detail". www.moore.org. Retrieved 2017-03-08.
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