Karen Lloyd

Why you should listen

Karen G. Lloyd is fascinated by what microbes are doing out in nature, so she applies molecular biological techniques to environmental samples to learn more about microbes that have thus far evaded attempts to be cultured in a laboratory. She and her colleagues have adapted novel techniques to quantify and characterize these mysterious microbes while requiring minimal changes to their natural conditions. Her work takes her on exciting field excursions to study deep oceanic subsurface sediments, deep-sea mud volcanoes and cold seeps, terrestrial volcanoes and hot springs, serpentinizing springs, Arctic marine fjord sediments and ancient permafrost. She is currently an associate professor at the University of Tennessee.