Research Interests

General: Geomicrobiology and microbial biogeochemistry of marine sediments, minerals and the deep subsurface; determining fundamental links between microbial diversity, activity and environmental variables.

Current research areas: the subsurface biosphere at young ridge flanks; chemoautotrophic iron metabolism and biogeography; anaerobic oxidation of methane at cold seeps, in gas hydrates, and in the deep biosphere

Education

Ph.D., Marine Sciences; University of Georgia, May 2007
B.S.; Interdisciplinary Studies (Marine Geochemistry emphasis with Geology minor), University of Georgia, May 2002

Professional Experience

* Postdoctoral Research Associate: Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California (Since April 2007)
* Graduate Research Assistant: Department of Marine Sciences, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia (May 2002-April 2007)
* Guest Scientist: Habitat Group, Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Bremen, Germany (recurring visits since Sept. 2002)
* Guest Scientist: Organic Geochemistry Group, Research Center Ocean Margins, Bremen, Germany (recurring visits since May 2004)
* Teaching Assistant: Biology of the Marine Environment (Spring, 2005), University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia
* Research Experience for Undergraduates: Department of Marine Sciences, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia (June 2000-May 2002)

Awards:
* National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow, 08/2003 – 08/2006
* Recruitment Scholarship, Department of Marine Sciences, University of Georgia, 07/2002.
* Barry M. Goldwater Scholar in Mathematics, Science and Engineering, 04/2001 – 06/2002
* Georgia H.O.P.E. Scholar, 08/1998 – 06/2002

Publications:
Santelli, C., Orcutt, B., Banning, E., Bach W., Moyer, C.L., Sogin, M., Staudiegel, H., Edwards, K.J. (submitted) Abundance and diversity of microbial life in the ocean crust.

Joye, S.B., Samarkin, V.A., Orcutt, B., MacDonald, M., Hinrichs, K.U., Elvert, M., Teske, A., Lloyd, K., Meile, C., Montoya, J. (submitted) Methane and sulfur dynamics in seafloor brines - surprising metabolic diversity in an extreme environment.

Orcutt, B., Lipp, J., Knittel, K., Hinrichs, K.-U., Joye, S.B., Boetius, A. (submitted) Microbial community composition and activity in hydrate-bearing deep subsurface sediments (Cascadia Margin, ODP Leg 204).

Orcutt, B., Samarkin, V., Boetius, A., Joye, S.B. (in press) On the relationship between methane production and consumption by anaerobic methanotrophs from cold seeps of the Gulf of Mexico. Environmental Microbiology.

Moran, M.A., Belas, R., Schell, M.A., Gonzalez, J.M., Sun, F., Sun, S., Binder, B.J., Edmonds, J., Ye, W., Orcutt, B., Howard, E., Meile, C., Palefsky, W., Goesmann, A., Ren, Q., Paulsen, I., Ulrich, L.E., Jouline, I.B., Thompson, L.S., Saunders, E., Buchan, A. (2007) Ecological genomics of marine Roseobacters. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 73:4559-4569.

Niemann, H., Elvert, M., Hovland, M., Orcutt, B., Judd, A., Suck, I., Gutt, J., Joye, S., Damm, E., Finster, K., Boetius, A. (2005) Methane emission and consumption at a North Sea gas seep (Tommeliten area). Biogeosciences 2: 335-351. (pdf)

Orcutt, B., Joye, S.B., Boetius, A., Elvert, M., Samarkin, V. (2005) Molecular biogeochemistry of sulfate reduction, methanogenesis, and the anaerobic oxidation of methane at Gulf of Mexico methane seeps. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 69: 4267-4281. (pdf)

MacDonald, I.R., Bohrmann, G., Escobar, E., Abegg, F., Blanchon, P., Blinova, V., Bruckmann, W., Drews, M., Eisenhauer, A., Han, X., Heeschen, K., Meier, F., Mortera, C., Naehr, T., Orcutt, B., Bernard, B., Brooks, J., de Farago, M. (2004) Asphalt volcanism and chemosynthetic life in the Campeche Knolls, Gulf of Mexico. Science 304: 999-1002. (pdf)

Orcutt, B. N., Boetius, A., Lugo, S. J., MacDonald, I. R., Samarkin, V., Joye, S. B. (2004) Life at the edge of methane ice: methane and sulfur cycling in Gulf of Mexico gas hydrates. Chemical Geology 205: 239-251. (pdf)

Joye, S. B., Orcutt, B. N., Boetius, A., Montoya, J. P., Schulz, H. N., Erickson, M. J., Lugo, S. K. (2004) The anaerobic oxidation of methane and sulfate reduction in sediments from Gulf of Mexico cold seeps. Chemical Geology 205: 219-238. (pdf)

Carini, S. A., Orcutt, B., and Joye, S.B. (2003) Interactions between methane oxidation and nitrification in coastal sediments. Geomicrobiology Journal 20: 35-374. (pdf)