Member SpotlightsThe Invisible Frontier: Utilizing Microbial Genomics to Clean-Up the Environment Terry Hazen, Ph.D. A Member Since April 2003  Raised in the remote reaches of the Upper Pennisula of Michigan, Dr. Terry Hazen often spent his childhood summers engaged in solitary pursuits. One of his favorite past times included exploring the streambeds that fed into Lake Michigan, examining the minute creatures that populated them. This curiosity for how nature worked at a microscopic level fueled a life long interest in microbiology. He is constantly amazed at the impact tiny microbes, which constitute about 60% of the known biomass, have our every day lives.Dr. Hazen received his B. S. and M. S. degrees in Interdepartmental Biology from Michigan State University. He earned a Ph.D. in Microbial Ecology from Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. His graduate research, done on location at the Savannah River Site (SRS), involved studying the effects of nuclear reactor cooling waters on bacteria, alligators and fish. SRS was constructed during the early 1950s by the Atomic Energy Commission to produce the basic materials used in the fabrication of nuclear weapons, primarily tritium and plutonium-239. Today it is managed by the Department of Energy and supports the national security interests of the United States. After graduation, Dr. Hazen moved to the University of Puerto Rico for eight years where he worked on coral reef ecology and was the Chairman of the Biology Department and Director of Graduate Studies. He returned to the Savannah River Site as a fellow scientist and was promoted to manager of the Biotechnology Group within the Savannah River Technology Center. In the late 1990?s, Dr. Hazen joined the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) Earth Sciences Division as Head of the Ecology Department and Lead Scientist for the Environmental Remediation Technology. He was later appointed as head of the Center for Environmental Biotechnology. Dr. Hazen?s interests are in environmental microbiology, especially as it relates to bioremediation. He has supervised and consulted on the implementation of bioremediation at more than 50 sites. Additionally, he holds the patents on five different bioremediation processes, which are currently being used in North America and Europe. He was instrumental in the creation of the new Virtual Institute for Microbial Stress and Survival (VIMSS), which received over $26 million from the Department of Energy in 2002 for an exciting multi year initiative entitled, ?Genomes to Life?. This award will be used to generate biotechnology solutions to produce clean energy while safeguarding the environment. Specifically, the funding will support research into how bacteria respond to environmental stressors and the survival mechanisms they utilize to handle adverse conditions such as metal and radionucleotide contamination. This research is designed to be very comprehensive as it will be conducted at the genome, proteome, system and ecosytem levels. The model organism chosen for such intense scrutiny is Desulfovibrio vulgaris, although other bacteria will also be studied. Dr. Hazen is an expert photographer, with many of his images featured in textbooks. He is an all-around nature enthusiast, enjoying many outdoor activities including fishing, hunting, SCUBA, sailing and flying. He has visited all of the National Parks in the United States. He also enjoys teaching young children about microbiology and is currently featured in a Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) educational program entitled, "Intimate Strangers: Unseen Life on Earth." ### << Previous Next >> [ View All Member Spotlights ] |
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