Earth Sciences Division Staff: Romy Chakraborty

Biographical Summary

Dr Romy Chakraborty received her PhD in Dec 2004 from the University of California, Berkeley in Microbiology. Her dissertation was titled "Anaerobic monoaromatic hydrocarbon degradation by a novel chlorate-reducing organism, Dechloromonas aromatica strain RCB". Her background is in anaerobic microbial physiology and microbial ecology. Her current research projects include looking at Stress response pathways in metal-reducing bacteria in the environment, Field studies of lactate-stimulated bioreduction of chromium, Energy and nutrient cycling in the deep subsurface of Earth and Mars,  Diverse metabolisms of sulfate-reducing organisms in the environment, Microbial enhanced oil recovery and Anaerobic lignin degradation.

Professional Experience

• February 2005 – Aug 2005: Postdoctoral Scholar, University of California, Berkeley
• Sept 2005-July 2008: Postdoctoral Scholar, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
• Aug 2008-current: Scientific and Engineering Associate, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Education

• Ph.D. in Microbiology, University of California at Berkeley, December 2004
  • Dissertation: Anaerobic hydrocarbon degradation by a novel chlorate-reducing organism.
• Master of Science in Life Sciences, University of Mumbai (Bombay), India, 1997
• Bachelor of Science in Microbiology, University of Bombay, India, 1995

Professional Honors and Awards

• LBNL SPOT Award, Gulf Oil Spill Research, 2010
• Exceptional quality of abstract, American Society of Microbiology General Meeting, May 2001.
• Co-performer of research project awarded “Project of the year” by Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program of the United States DOE, DOD, EPA (SERDP), Nov 2001.
• Best poster award at the 11^th International Humics Substance Society Meeting, July 2002.
• Doctoral Fellowship, 2002.

Professional Service and Associations

Member:

• American Society of Microbiology
• International Society for Microbial Ecology
• American Geophysical Union
• Associate Faculty member, Faculty of 1000 Biology

Reviewer:

• Astrobiology, Frontiers in MicroBioTechnology
• Applied and Environmental Microbiology
• Biomed Genomics
• Briefings in Bioinformatics
• Environmental Science and Technology
• National Science Foundation
• Wiley Publishers

Session Chair

• AGU Fall Meeting,  San Francisco, Dec 2008: Geochemical Controls and Microbial Response in Metal-Contaminated Environments II

• ASM 110th General Meeting, San Diego, May 2010: Causes of Complexity in Microbial Stress Response: The Role of Evolution, Memory, Stochasticity and Physiological State