Nationality American | Known for Geobiologist | |
Institutions California Institute of Technology Notable awards MacArthur Fellowship
Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation Investigator Award
DOE Early Career Research Award
National Research Council Fellowship | ||
Geobiologist victoria orphan 2016 macarthur fellow
Victoria Orphan is a geobiologist at the California Institute of Technology who studies the interactions between marine microorganisms and their environment.
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Education
Dr. Orphan received her B.A. (1994) and Ph.D. (2001) from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her postdoctoral research was at the NASA Ames Research Center (2002-2004). Currently, Dr. Orphan is the James Irvine Professor of Environmental Science and Geobiology at the California Institute of Technology She is also an adjunct scientist at Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) (since 2009) 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.
Professional Work
Dr. Orphan's research focuses on microbially-mediated anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) in deep sea sediment. Specifically, she looks at the relationships between two groups of marine microbes: an archaea and a bacteria. Dr. Orphan uses tools such as nanoSIMs to visualize these organisms at the microscale and track how and when they exchange energy. Through her research, Dr. Orphan has helped to provide insight into the relationship between microbes and large-scale geochemical processes.