Frederick (Rick) S. Colwell
Professor, College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences and Department of Microbiology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR
Dr. Colwell received his B.S. in Biology from Whitman College (1977), his M.S. in Microbiology from Northern Arizona University (1982), and his Ph.D. in Microbiology from Virginia Tech (1986). Dr. Colwell was a scientist at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory (INL) for 20 years. His research there involved geomicrobiology, determining microbial rates and processes in subsurface settings, sensing and monitoring of environmental microbes, methods for sampling Earth’s subsurface for microorganisms, and bioremediation.
At OSU, Dr. Colwell teaches undergraduate courses in Astrobiology and Oceanography, and a graduate field course called Cascadia. He was a Scientist-in-Residence at the Exploratorium in San Francisco, CA, an instructor and organizer of microbial ecology courses taught in China, and organizer of the Deep Carbon Observatory Summer School in Yellowstone National Park for 40 international postdoctoral fellows from multiple Earth science disciplines.
The primary focus of Dr. Colwell’s research has been exploring the extent, diversity, and activity of the subsurface biosphere in continental and seafloor settings. He has investigated microbes in subseafloor sediments including determining the rate of methanogenesis near methane hydrates and methane seeps) microbial enhanced calcite precipitation to remove contaminants in aquifers and as a geoengineering technique, and the sequestration and biogeochemical cycling of carbon in Earth’s critical zone and in aquifers. He led the Census of Deep Life, a decade-long, global survey of microbial diversity in the deep subsurface of the continents and the seafloor. Dr. Colwell has led or participated in 18 scientific drilling or sampling expeditions at numerous locations in the continental US, Alaska, and Canada, and also in several of the world’s oceans. He has authored or co-authored over 90 peer review publications