Jillian F. Banfield
Encyclopedia
Jillian Fiona Banfield (born Armidale, Australia) is a geomicrobiologist and biogeochemist whose work focuses on the fundamental relationship between microorganisms and their chemical environments. Her most noted work includes publications on how microorganisms alter their chemical and physical environments during simulated bioremediation.
where she completed her bachelors and masters degrees (1978–1985). She graduated with a Ph.D in Earth and Planetary Sciences from Johns Hopkins University
in 1990 under the supervision of Professor David Veblen. Throughout her career, Banfield has been a professor at universities worldwide, including the University of Wisconsin–Madison (1990–2001) and The University of Tokyo (1996–1998). Since 2001, she has been a researcher and professor at the University of California Berkeley. Here she heads their geomicrobiology program and works as a researcher under the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
. Her current research spans from field sites in Northern California to Australia and from subjects including astrobiology and genomics/geosciences.
, and astrobiology
and extremophile
s.
An example of her research can be seen in the article titled “Virus Population Dynamics and Acquired Virus Resistance in Natural Microbial Communities” where Banfield and Andersson explain how viruses may shape the microbial community. They rebuilt the virus and host bacterial genome sequences from the natural acidophilic biofilms. They analyzed the viruses by looking for the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPRs) which are indicators of virus resistance. Banfield and Andersson found that massive recombination shuffles the sequence to avoid creating CRISPR spacers. They further found that with existing viruses were only new spacers. This implies that the microbial community quickly acts to promote virus resistance by rapid recombination.
Early life and career
As an Australian native, Banfield’s career began at the Australian National UniversityAustralian National University
The Australian National University is a teaching and research university located in the Australian capital, Canberra.As of 2009, the ANU employs 3,945 administrative staff who teach approximately 10,000 undergraduates, and 7,500 postgraduate students...
where she completed her bachelors and masters degrees (1978–1985). She graduated with a Ph.D in Earth and Planetary Sciences from Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
in 1990 under the supervision of Professor David Veblen. Throughout her career, Banfield has been a professor at universities worldwide, including the University of Wisconsin–Madison (1990–2001) and The University of Tokyo (1996–1998). Since 2001, she has been a researcher and professor at the University of California Berkeley. Here she heads their geomicrobiology program and works as a researcher under the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory , is a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory conducting unclassified scientific research. It is located on the grounds of the University of California, Berkeley, in the Berkeley Hills above the central campus...
. Her current research spans from field sites in Northern California to Australia and from subjects including astrobiology and genomics/geosciences.
Honors and awards
- 2010 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Earth and Environmental Science
- 2010 The L'Oréal-UNESCO Award recognising exceptional women in science
- 2007 Fellow Geochemical Society
- 2007 Fellow American Academy of Microbiology
- 2006 Member National Academy of Sciences
- 2000 Jackson Award Clay Minerals Society
- 2000 Fellow John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
- 1999 Fellow through 2004 MacArthur FoundationMacArthur Fellows ProgramThe MacArthur Fellows Program or MacArthur Fellowship is an award given by the John D. and Catherine T...
Research interests
Jillian Banfield’s group research focuses on how microorganisms impact mineralogy through the connection of inorganic and biological processes. Topics included in her research are sulfide mineral dissolution, soil formation, bioremediationBioremediation
Bioremediation is the use of microorganism metabolism to remove pollutants. Technologies can be generally classified as in situ or ex situ. In situ bioremediation involves treating the contaminated material at the site, while ex situ involves the removal of the contaminated material to be treated...
, and astrobiology
Astrobiology
Astrobiology is the study of the origin, evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe. This interdisciplinary field encompasses the search for habitable environments in our Solar System and habitable planets outside our Solar System, the search for evidence of prebiotic chemistry,...
and extremophile
Extremophile
An extremophile is an organism that thrives in physically or geochemically extreme conditions that are detrimental to most life on Earth. In contrast, organisms that live in more moderate environments may be termed mesophiles or neutrophiles...
s.
An example of her research can be seen in the article titled “Virus Population Dynamics and Acquired Virus Resistance in Natural Microbial Communities” where Banfield and Andersson explain how viruses may shape the microbial community. They rebuilt the virus and host bacterial genome sequences from the natural acidophilic biofilms. They analyzed the viruses by looking for the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPRs) which are indicators of virus resistance. Banfield and Andersson found that massive recombination shuffles the sequence to avoid creating CRISPR spacers. They further found that with existing viruses were only new spacers. This implies that the microbial community quickly acts to promote virus resistance by rapid recombination.
Recent Publications from the Banfield Laboratory
- Goodell, C.; Gilbert, B., Weigand, S.,Banfield, J.F.(2008) "Kinetics of water adsorption driven structural transformation of ZnS nanoparticles". The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 112, 4791-4796.
- Wilmes, P., Andersson, A.F., Lefsrud, M.G., Wexler, M., Shah, M., Zhang, B., Hettich, R.L., VerBerkmoes, N.C. and Banfield, J.F. (2008) "Community proteogenomics highlights microbial strain-variant protein expression within activated sludge performing enhanced biological phosphorus removal". ISME Journal, doi:10.1038/ismej.2008.38
- Andersson, A. and Banfield J.F. (2008) "Virus population dynamics and acquired virus resistance in natural microbial communities". Science, 230, 1047-1050.
- Finnegan, M.P., Zhang, H., and Banfield, J.F. (2008) "Anatase coarsening kinetics under hydrothermal conditions as a function of pH and temperature". Chem. Mater. 20, 3443-3449.
- Eppley, J. M., Tyson, G.W., Getz, W.M. and Banfield J.F. (2007) "Strainer: Software for analysis of population variation in community genomic datasets". BMC Bioinformatics, 8, 398
- Eppley, J. M., Tyson, G.W., Getz, W.M. and Banfield J.F. (2007) "Genetic exchange across a species boundary in the archaeal genus Ferroplasma". Genetics, in press.
- Denef V.D., Shah, M.B., VerBerkmoes, N.C., Hettich, R.L., and Banfield J.F. (2007) "Implications of strain- and species-level divergence for community and isolate shotgun proteomic analysis". Journal of Proteome Research, in press.
- Williams K.H., Hubbard, S.S., and Banfield, J.F. (2007) "Galvanic interpretation of self-potential signals associated with microbial sulfate reduction". Journal of Geophysical Research, 112, in press.
- Moreau J.W., Weber, P.K., Martin, M.C., Gilbert, B., Hutcheon, I.D., and Banfield, J.F. (2007) "Extracellular proteins limit the dispersal of biogenic nanoparticles". Science, 316, 1600-1603.
- Rosling, A., Johansson, E., Suttle, K.B., van Hees, P.A.W., and Banfield J.F. (2007) "Phosphorus availability influences the dissolution of apatite by soil fungi". Geobiology, in press.
- Chen, B., Zhang, H., Gilbert, B., and Banfield, J.F. (2007) "Mechanism of inhibition of nanoparticle growth and phase transformation by surface impurities". Physical Review Letters, 98, 106103-1- 4.
- Lo, I., Denef V.D., VerBerkmoes N.C., Shah M. B., Goltsman D., DiBartolo, G., Tyson G. W., Allen E. E., Ram, R. J., Detter, J. C., Richardson, P., Thelen, M. P. Hettich R. L., and Banfield J. F. (2007) "Strain-resolved community proteomics reveals recombining genomes of acidophilic bacteria". Nature, 446 (7135), 537-541.
- Finnegan, M.P., Zhang, H., and Banfield J.F. (2007) "Phase stability and transformation in titania nanoparticles in aqueous solutions dominated by surface energy". J. Phys. Chem. C., 111, 1962-1968.
- Williams, K.H., Ntarlagiannis, D., Slater, L.D., Dohnalkova, A., Hubbard, S.S., and Banfield, J.F. (2005) "Geophysical imaging of stimulated microbial biomineralization". Environmental Science and Technology, 39, 7592-7600.
- Waychunas G,.A., Kim C.S., and Banfield, J.F. (2005) "Nanoparticulate iron oxide minerals in soils and sediments: unique properties and contaminant scavenging mechanisms". Journal of Nanoparticle Research 7: 409-433
- Naicker, P.K. Cummings,P.T., Hengzhong Z.,| and Banfield J.F. (2005) "Characterization of Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticles Using Molecular Dynamics Simulations", Phys. Chem. B, 109, 15243-15249
- Baumler D.J., Jeong K.C., Fox B.G., Banfield J.F., Kaspar C.W. (2005) "Sulfate requirement for heterotrophic growth of "Ferroplasma acidarmanus" strain fer1". Res Microbiol. 2005 May;156:492-8.
- Zhang, H. and Banfield J.F. (2005) "Size dependence of the kinetic rate constant for phase transformation in TiO2 nanoparticles". Chemistry of Materials. Web publication 6.2005.
- Suzuki Y., Kelly S.D., Kemner K.M., Banfield J.F. (2005) "Direct microbial reduction and subsequent preservation of uranium in natural near-surface sediment". Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 71, 1790-1797.
- Huang, F. and Banfield J.F. (2005) "Size-dependent phase transformation kinetics in nanocrystalline ZnS". Journal of the American Chemical Soc. 127, 4523-4529
- Tyson, G.W., Lo, I., Baker, B.B., Allen, E.E., Hugenholtz, P. and Banfield, J.F. (2005) "Genome-directed isolation of the key nitrogen fixer, Leptospirillum ferrodiazotrophum sp. nov., from an acidophilic microbial community." Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 71, 6319-6324.
- Allen, E.E. and Banfield, J.F. (2005) "Community genomics in microbial ecology and evolution". Nature Reviews Microbiology, 3, 489-498.
- Bishop J.L., Dyar M.D., Lane M.D. and Banfield J.F. (2004) "Spectral identification of hydrated sulfates on Mars and comparison with acidic environments on Earth". International Journal of Astrobiology 3 (4) : 275-285.
- Andersson, A. and Banfield J.F. (2008) "Virus population dynamics and acquired virus resistance in natural microbial communities". Science, 230, 1047-1050.