Trista Vick-Majors

Trista Vick-Majors

Contact

  • Assistant Professor, Biological Sciences
  • PhD, Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Montana State University
  • MSc, Land Resources and Environmental Sciences, Montana State University
  • BA, Biology, Colorado College

Biography

I am a microbial ecologist who studies the reciprocal relationships between microbial communities and biogeochemical processes in aquatic ecosystems. Microorganisms are widespread in the environment and are responsible for driving key elemental transformations that control the quality of our water and influence the greenhouse gas concentrations in our atmosphere. I am interested in understanding how physical and chemical characteristics interact with microbial communities and influence or are influenced by microbial metabolism and diversity. My work is also aimed at understanding energetic constraints on microbial metabolism that may result from ecosystem change or seasonal change, such as the formation of ice-cover. Field work locales span temperate environments with seasonal ice-cover, where rapid environmental change is affecting ice duration and thickness, and polar environments where ice-cover can be a permanent fixture. My research occurs at the interface of microbial ecology and biogeochemistry.

Research Interests

  • Microbial Ecology
  • Biogeochemistry
  • Limnology
  • Cryosphere