New PAOC Faculty

PAOC is delighted to welcome 2 new faculty members, Professor Dan Rothman and Professor Roger Summons, along with their respective researchers, post-docs, students and staff.

Dan Rothman - Professor of Geophysics

The theoretical geophysicist, Dan Rothman, brings with him EAPS Post Doc Olivier Devauchelle, as well as EAPS grad students Christopher Follet and David Forney. Rothman's group look for simple theoretical descriptions of complex natural systems with problems of interest ranging from geobiologocal evolution to the dynamics of fluids, rocks, and sand. The emphasis of Rothman's research is on understanding the cooperative processes that create and maintain our natural environment.

Roger Summons - Professor of Geobiology

Professor of Geobiology Roger Summons is accompanied by EAPS Post Docs Christian Hallmann, Sabine Mehay and Julio Sepulveda, EAPS grad student Sara Lincoln, as well as Suryendu Dutta (currently visiting from IIT, Bombay) and grad student Xiaolei Liu (currently visiting from Germany). Summons Group studies organic matter from microbes, environmental samples and rocks. Ancient rocks and oils contain a rich abundance of hidden information, including molecular and isotopic signatures of the biota existing at the time the organic matter was formed. The goal of their research, then, is to extract and interpret these signals, in order to reconstruct ancient environments and understand how life evolved within them.  Through their work, Summons and his team hope to get closer to the origins of oxygenic photosynthesis, about 3 billion years ago, and the conditions that led to the appearance of animal life on earth. It is hoped that techniques developed in his lab might eventually help to detect signs of life on other planets.