Professional Background:

Dr. Teske's research are is microbial ecology and systematics. "I am particularly interested in bacteria and archaea of extreme marine environments, their natural diversity, their environmental tolerance and physiology. My current projects focus on the microbial community structure of hydrothermal vent sediments and chimneys, and of deeply buried sediments in the central oceanic basins and continental margins, using molecular and cultivation approaches. Microbial life in the ocean is extremely diverse and includes numerous phylogenetic lineages of bacteria and archaea that have not yet been cultured in the laboratory. I am planning to expand my research program towards physiology and ecology of uncultured microorganisms, using biogeochemical methods (diagnostic biomarkers, isotope studies) and genomic appraoches, for example the analysis of key genes of specific metabolic pathways, or sequencing of large genome fragments from novel, uncultured microorganisms in extreme environments."