Mojave Expedition: March 19-23, 2016 & August 14-16, 2015

 

Background material


  1. •Biological Soil Crusts:  Maestre 2006; Yeager 2007; Belnap 2004

  2. •Airborne Microorganisms: Hervas 2009; Griffin 2007

  3. •Soda Lake:  Harvey 1999; Goldstein 1999; Navarro 2009

  4. •Quantitative PCR & Sequencing:  Redfield 2002; Nagy 2005; Soule 2009

  5. •Catalase Structure & Function: Chelikani 2004; Zamokcy 1999



August 2015 Roster

  1. •Rakesh Mogul (Cal Poly Pomona)

  2. •Geoffrey Payton (Orchard Academy 2B)

  3. •Kristin Symer (Lynwood High School)

  4. •Parag Vaishampayan (JPL)

  5. •Mina Bashir (JPL)

  6. •Sarah Cruz (JPL)

  7. •Mahjabeen Ahmed (JPL)

  8. •Heidi Aronson (JPL)



march 2016 Roster


Spaceward bound Students:

  1. •Samuel Barsoum (CPP)

  2. •Courtney Chan (SLO)

  3. •Brendan Dilloughery (CPP)

  4. •Noah Falck (SLO)

  5. •Philip Flores (CPP)

  6. •Stephanie Hernandez (CPP)

  7. •Deborah Kim (Bakersfield)

  8. •Bridget Manjarrez (CPP)

  9. •Anjali Matthews (CPP)

  10. •Sophia Molina (the ATL)

  11. •Andy Nguyen (CPP)

  12. •Maya Ogawa-Okada (CPP)

  13. •Tanya Orla (CPP)

  14. •Isaac Orozco (CPP)

  15. •Wonji Park (CPP)

  16. •Melanie Phillips (San Marcos)


CSU Research Students:

  1. •Michael Chabot

  2. •Nicholas Cooper

  3. •Arman Seuylemezian

  4. •Samir Sekhon


CSU Faculty:

  1. •Rakesh Mogul (Cal Poly Pomona)

  2. •Ernesto Gomez (San Bernardino State University)


K12 TEACHERS:

  1. •Geoffrey Payton (Orchard Academy 2B)

  2. •Kristin Symer (Lynwood High School)

  3. •Mary Shane (Advanced Technologies Academy)

  4. •Paula Jacoby-Garrett (Teacher; Board of Directors, Mojave National Preserve Conservancy)


participating scientists & mentors:

  1. •Parag Vaishampayan (Jet Propulsion Laboratory)

  2. •Keith Schubert (Baylor University)

  3. •Rosalba Bornaccorsi (SETI Institute)

  4. •Naomi Volain (Jet Propulsion Laboratory)

  5. •Paula Jacoby-Garrett (Teacher; Board of Directors, Mojave National Preserve Conservancy)



Biological Soil Crusts

FOcus Areas


  1. •Biological Soil Crusts: microbial communities that aid in nutrient cycling in arid and semi-arid lands.

  2. •Soda Lake: microbiology of a dry alkaline soda bed.



Research topics


  1. •Phylogenetic composition of cultivable airborne microorganisms.

  2. •Quantification of viable bacterial abundance and composition in biological soil crusts.

  3. •Development of field and benchtop assays for catalase activity.

  4. •Quantification of viable bacterial abundance and composition in Soda Lake cores.

  5. •Chemical analysis of soda lake.

  6. •others TBD...



program Accomplishments


science & stewardship:

  1. •Collection of airborne particles from several locations in the Mojave National Preserve.


  1. •Measurements of catalase specific activities in biological soil crusts and control samples.


  1. •Measurements of catalase specific activities in core samples of Soda Lake.


  1. •Comparison of field-amenable, high and low sensitivity catalase assays.


  1. •Progress toward developing a field-based assay for ATP abundance in BSC and other soil samples.


  1. •Extraction of DNA from Soda Lake samples, airborne particles, and biological soil crusts.


  1. •PCR analysis of 16S rDNA abundance in Soda Lake samples, airborne particles, and biological soil crusts.


  1. •PCR analysis of catalase gene abundance in Soda Lake samples, airborne particles, and biological soil crusts.


  1. •Progress towards developing a robust means to measure temporal changes in surface coverage of biological soil crusts.


  1. •Removal of invasive plants at the biological soil crust field site.



Teacher development:

  1. •Drafting of 16 astrobiology-related essential questions.


  1. •Drafting of 16 hands-on activities based on the Spaceward Bound experience.


  1. •Enrollment in a University course dedicated to developing and presenting the astrobiology lesson in local K12 classroom (for Cal Poly Pomona students).