Principal Investigator
Dr. James Fulton
Associate Professor, Department of Geosciences, Baylor University
Ph.D., Geosciences and Biogeochemistry, The Pennsylvania State University
james_fulton@baylor.edu
Graduate Students
Sanjukta Dhar is a Ph.D. candidate studying nitrogen cycling processes in anoxic environments. Her work is primarily focused on ancient ocean basins including the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin during the time of the Devonian/Carboniferous Hangenberg mass extinction event.
Publication: Dhar, S., Frucci, M.N., Atchley, S.C., Fulton, J.M., 2024, Spatial heterogeneity in nutrient utilization during the End-Devonian Ocean Anoxic Event: A case study of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin, Frontiers in Earth Science 12, doi: 10.3389/feart.2024.1407639.
Josh Ford is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Geosciences studying microbial biogeochemistry. He is currently researching carbon storage in coastal stratified microbial mats through carbon oxidation states and lipid/photopigment biomarkers. His overarching research interests include carbon cycling, climate change, microbial metabolism, and astrobiology.
Josh is a teaching assistant at Baylor University and has created undergraduate lab activities focusing on climate science. He has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in geology, from Hanover College and Kansas State University, respectively. He was a science team member of the NASA project BRAILLE (Biologic and Resource Analog Investigations in Low Light Environments), which collected biogeochemical data from lava tube caves to inform future extraterrestrial investigations. Josh’s research at BRAILLE focused on putative biosignature speleothems. He currently has one publication associated with BRAILLE and another in preparation.
Tabinda Athar is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Geosciences studying microbial biogeochemistry. Her research area is in the application of microbial intact polar lipid biomarkers to the study of biogeochemical nutrient cycling in dryland biocrust. Her broad research interests include environmental quality, climate change, soil fertility, and soil health. Tabinda has conducted research in plant physiology, molecular biology, soil salinity, plant growth promoting rhizobacteria, soil microbiology, soil chemistry, soil physics, and nanotechnology.
Tabinda is a teaching and research assistant at Baylor. She previously worked as a Visiting Lecturer at the University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF) Pakistan. She has bachelor’s and master’s Honor Degrees in Agricultural Sciences, specializing in Soil Science. She is a Silver Medalist and attended a semester at the Selcuk University of Turkey as an exchange student. Tabinda has 24 publications (research papers, review articles, and book chapters).
Undergraduate Students
Meera Kirpal is an undergraduate Biology/pre-med major and senior laboratory assistant in the Microbial Biogeochemistry Lab. Meera started working the Microbial Biogeochemistry lab in Spring 2023. She helps with organic chemical extractions, sample preparation of stable isotope analysis, lab maintenance, and field sampling. Meera is working on LC/MS analysis of porphyrins.
Daan Shen is an undergraduate Geosciences Major with a concentration in Biogeoscience and Paleontology. He is conducting research on microbial carbon cycling in coastal sediments using stable carbon isotopic analysis. During Summer 2024, Daan is conducting field work and laboratory analysis of field samples. His work in the Microbial Biogeochemistry Lab is funded through a generous Department of Geosciences Dixon Grant.
Taylor Freer is an undergraduate Biology/pre-med major and lab assistant in the Microbial Biogeochemistry Lab starting in Summer 2024. She is currently learning methods in pigment sample preparation and chemical extraction for LC/MS analysis. She will also be working on DNA extraction from sediment samples.
Bryan Steele is an undergraduate Biology/pre-med major and lab assistant in the Microbial Biogeochemistry Lab starting in Summer 2024. He is currently learning methods in pigment sample preparation and chemical extraction for LC/MS analysis. He will also be working on DNA extraction from sediment samples.
Lab Alumni
Sean Young
Mason Frucci, M.S. 2021
Sarah Catherine Weaver, B.S. 2021
Arham Siddiqui, B.S. 2019