Dr. David Emerson Dr. David Emerson is new on the staff of Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences and brings with him a wealth of knowledge in the study of microorganisms. (Photo Joe Orchulli II)

Dr. David Emerson, a native of Camden, is one of the new senior research scientists at Bigelow Laboratory For Ocean Sciences. His specialty, the study of microorganisms, is an area that Bigelow wanted to expand into Emerson said.

Emerson helped his dad harvest seaweed as a child. His dad was also in the Merchant Marine and had his own firewood business in Camden. His mother ran the local animal shelter.

Beginning his studies in Bar Harbor College of the Atlantic studying whales and birds, he became more interested in the intricacies of life. He was always interested in biology and became fascinated with the study of ecosystems and microorganisms.

He got his doctorate in microbiology at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York and his post doctorate at Michigan State and in Denmark, where he was a research scientist.

His professional experience includes being a teacher and research assistant at Cornell University, a research associate at the Center for Microbial Ecology at Michigan State University, Visiting Research Associate in the Department of Microbial Ecology at the Institute of Biological Sciences at Aarhus University in Aarhus, Denmark working in the group of Niels Peter Revsbech, learning microelectrode construction and studying a microbial iron oxidizing community.

He was also a research associate at the Center for Microbial Ecology at MSU and a research scientist, at the American Type Culture Collection in Manassas, Virginia.

Emerson began working at Bigelow on August 20 after 11 years at the repository for microorganisms in Virginia. He is a member of the American Society for Microbiology, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Geophysical Union.

Emerson became acquainted with another scientist at Bigelow a few years ago, and when he found out they were interested in expanding into marine bacteriology, he applied for the position and was accepted.

"Bigelow has been doing a lot of work studying phytoplankton but not as much on bacteria," Emerson said.

"My major focus has been on bacteria that oxidize iron. We oxidize our food to gain energy from it.

"Some bacteria can live on inorganic substances. Iron is the fourth most prevalent element in the Earth's crust. We all require iron in our bodies. These bacteria require it as their source of food. They can literally eat nails."

He has studied hydrothermal vents in the ocean floor for geological activity. There are large deposits of iron oxide in these places. He has also developed methods to grow the same type of bacteria in the lab as the ones that grow in these natural environments.

Emerson recently spoke at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute on his studies. He has also joined scientists from Woods Hole in their submersible, JASON, in depths of 5,000 meters and also in the deep waters examining the newest of the Hawaiian Islands, Loihi.

Emerson has also worked with a manned submersible, PISCES V at the University of Hawaii. He said that PISCES is a six-foot titanium ball that is shared with two other people exploring the microbiology of one of the most active volcanoes on Earth. Though he and his comrades were in close proximity, he said it was a very exciting experience.

He has also been exploring the possibilities of these organisms living on Mars and has worked on numerous projects in astrobiology.

Emerson was involved in studying the Civil War iron clad USS Monitor, which was discovered on the ocean floor in 2002. "We want to understand how the bacterial process works to help retrieve archeological artifacts and to know how to preserve them," Emerson said.

"Some of the problems with iron oxide deposits is that they are clogging industrial pipelines and corroding steel though they can also make good filters for filtering such toxic elements as cadmium, uranium and lead," Emerson said.

Emerson, who has been published many times over, has lectured for a Microbial Diversity Course at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Wood's Hole, Massachusetts, at Cornell University, Bigelow Laboratory For Ocean Sciences, Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology in Marburg, Germany, Center for Marine Biotechnology in Baltimore, Maryland, James Madison University, Johns Hopkins University, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, University of Virginia, California Institute of Technology, University of Maine, Geophysical Laboratory and at the Carnegie Institute of Washington.

He has also been involved in creating educational outreach programs through NASA and the University of California in Berkeley for middle school students, mentored students, conducted workshops, review panels and more.

"I am glad to be able to come back to Maine and study science at a higher level," Emerson said.

Emerson has written dozens of research grants and is currently receiving support from the National Science Foundation and NASA.