Dr. Alyson Santoro, assistant professor at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science’s Horn Point Laboratory, is one of four scientists in the nation to be given the 2015 Simons Early Career Investigator in Marine Microbial Ecology and Evolution award by the Simons Foundation. The awards are intended to help launch and support the careers of outstanding young investigators who use quantitative approaches to advance our understanding of marine microbial ecology and evolution.
Microbes play an essential role in the ecology and biogeochemistry of the oceans, capturing solar energy, producing and consuming greenhouse gases, and providing the base of the food web.
Dr. Santoro’s research focuses on archaea—microbes in the ocean about which very little is known. Once thought to live only in “extreme” environments, archaea are now known to be among the most abundant organisms on the planet and vital components of nutrient cycles in the ocean.
Each grantee will receive $180,000 per year for a period of three years.
Earlier this year, Santoro was awarded a Sloan Research Fellowship from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, an award that honors early-career scholars who represent the most promising researchers working today. Sloan Research Fellows have gone on to win 43 Nobel Prizes and numerous other distinguished awards.” That prize provides $50,000 annually for two years to further her research.
“Alyson Santoro is a rising star in her field of microbial ecology, we are fortunate to have Alyson on our faculty and look forward to her continued success at our laboratory” states Dr. Michael Roman, Director of the Horn Point Laboratory.
Dr. Santoro received her B.A. in ecology and evolutionary biology from Dartmouth College and her Ph.D. in environmental engineering and science from Stanford University. She was a Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Postdoctoral Scholar Fellow in marine chemistry and is an associate of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research Integrated Microbial Biodiversity Program.
