Description
Caves are home to a wealth of unknown and fascinating microbial life. Explore microbial life in lava caves in Hawai`i, El Malpais National Monument, Iceland, and the Azores, and the role microorganisms play in various cycles in the caves. Since we’ve identified lava caves on Mars and other extraterrestrial bodies, our work in Earth’s lava caves will be critical to identifying life beyond Earth.
Diana Northup, PhD, is a visiting associate professor at the University of New Mexico. Her work centers around understanding how life exists in the dark. The subterranean biosphere of caves has fueled her passion for science for decades. In caves throughout the world, Northup studies extremophiles, including microbes that eat rock, and “microbes that masquerade as minerals,” to help better detect life on extraterrestrial bodies.