Undergraduate geology student Bryce Stoltz is combining his passion for earth sciences, fieldwork and the physical nature of geology into hands-on research. What began as a spark in a high school environmental sciences class has led to Stoltz contributing to important environmental research. His work sheds light on early Earth environments, as well as the possibility of life on Mars.
Now finishing up his junior year at ɫҹ, Stoltz is working with new faculty member Courtney Wagner, Ph.D., and David Singer, Ph.D., to find and analyze magnetotactic bacteria within acid mine drainage samples from the . The watershed flows through Carroll and Tuscarawas counties and drains into Conotton Creek, south of Mineral City, Ohio.
Stoltz received an (OSGC) scholarship to conduct the research, a process that required two letters of recommendation and an abstract proposal.
According to Stoltz, magnetotactic bacteria are microorganisms that form the magnetic minerals magnetite or greigite. These minerals align in their body and orient with Earth’s magnetic field, like a compass needle. The alignment helps the bacteria find the oxic-anoxic interface of the water columns that they live within.
Magnetotactic bacteria leave behind these magnetic materials when they fossilize, revealing information about past environments and how they have changed over time.
“Being able to look back into the past is something that’s super cool,” Stoltz said. “I feel like that’s something most geologists love—we think on such deep timescales—these magnetotactic bacteria could be billions of years old.”
According to Wagner, magnetotactic bacteria are found all over the world in most aquatic environments, even in puddles and backyard ponds, for example. However, they can also be found in “extreme environments” such as acid mine drainages.
These extreme environments are harsh, acidic, iron-rich and contain sulfates, reflecting the conditions of early Earth and Mars. Genomic studies suggest that magnetotactic bacteria developed the ability to navigate magnetic field lines to escape these harsh environmental conditions on early Earth. Evidence also points to Mars having both water and a magnetic field in the past, which are required for magnetotactic bacteria to exist.
“That’s why we’re interested in characterizing them in acid mine drainage,” Wagner said. “It’s a good analog for Martian environments and early Earth. They’re all over the place, but also in these really extreme environments, too.”
Stoltz said finding the magnetotactic bacteria in the acid drainage samples was a difficult but rewarding task.
“It was really exciting to find them for the first time,” Stoltz said. “I just kept on pushing through and looking for samples.”
After collecting sediment-water samples from the site, Stoltz and Wagner brought them back to the lab and put magnets on the sample containers to attract bacteria using magnetic fields. Then, they used light microscopy to view the magnetotactic bacteria. They plan on using transmission electron microscopy to achieve a finer resolution and view the magnetic particles that form inside the bacteria, which are about 50 nanometers in size, according to Wagner.
The magnetic particles they make vary in shape and size, and subtle differences in them can reveal specific changes in environments, Wagner said. Nailing down the connection between the bacteria and the particles is key to finding them in the geologic record and learning about past environments.
“What we’re getting at here is that missing puzzle piece of those specific environmental parameters in some of these crazier, harsh environments,” Wagner said.
Moving forward, Stoltz wants to continue to concentrate the samples to get better electron microscopy results, as well as identify the bacteria’s composition as magnetite or greigite.
He also wants to use X-ray diffraction to learn more about the composition of the water and soil samples.
Stoltz presented his research on April 4 at the annual , held at the in Cleveland. He recognizes the value of doing undergraduate research and encourages other students to do the same. He said simply asking around about opportunities is a good way to get started.
“I think it’s really important to start doing research in undergrad, especially if you want to go to grad school,” Stoltz said. “It helps you stand out and getting the experience is really valuable—I don’t think you can supplement it in another way.”
As a new faculty member teaching a full course for the first time, Wagner said she appreciates the kindness and support of the ɫҹ community. She echoed Stoltz’s advice to get involved in research and commended his commitment.
“I love to call my undergrads that really stand out over the years ‘wondergrads,’ and Bryce is definitely a wondergrad,” Wagner said. “He’s very perseverant, engaged, hardworking and communicative—everything you want in an undergrad researcher.”
After graduating, Stoltz hopes to take a gap year to travel and see geologic features from around the world, including emeralds in Columbia and the French Alps. He then intends to attend graduate school and eventually seek out a career in mineral exploration.
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Media Contact:
Jim Maxwell, JMAXWEL2@kent.edu, 330-672-8028