Dr. Tanja Bosak and Alexander Petroff explain the advanced research that is decoding the parallel evolution of life and environment on the ancient Earth. They show how laboratory experiments on modern microbes repeat the patterns of rock formation by ancient microbes, and they explain why microbes produce unique polycyclic lipid compounds that can persist in sediments for billions of years.
Dr. Tanja Bosak was born in Croatia, where she received her B.Sc. from Zagreb University in 1998. She then received her Ph.D. in geobiology from California Institute of Technology in 2004. Her Ph.D. research investigated the role of microbial processes in the formation of laminated limestone rocks that were common for the first eighty percent of Earth history. That work won her the 2007 Subaru Outstanding Woman in Science Award, which is presented to a woman whose PhD research has impacted the field of the geosciences in a major way. Dr. Bosak spent two years as a Microbial Sciences Initiative Fellow at Harvard University. Bosak joined the faculty at MIT in 2007 where she is now Cecil and Ida Green Assistant Professor. Her research program integrates molecular microbiology, geochemistry, sedimentology and modern analytical tools to address the co-evolution of life and the environment on our planet.
Alex Petroff is originally from Alabama. He holds degrees in Mathematics and Physics from Carleton College (Northfield, MN). He is a doctoral student at MIT's Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Science. His research focuses on how the complex and intricate patterns in the natural world arise from simple physical laws.