Welcome
Research in the McDermott lab investigates the aqueous and volatile geochemistry and biogeochemistry of seafloor hydrothermal vents and ancient terrestrial fracture waters tapped by deep mines. These systems link fundamental geological and biological processes that sustain microbial life in the largely unexplored deep subsurface biosphere, and they represent modern analogues of environments that may have played a critical role in the origin of life on the early Earth. Much of our work is interdisciplinary. Collaborations with microbiologists and geologists enrich our understanding of these complex systems.
We use a suite of geochemical tools, from isotopic characterization and abundance analyses to thermodynamic assessments, to reveal the origin of carbon and sulfur-containing compounds in deep vent and mine fluids. Are these compounds generated by living things, or can they form without any contribution from life?
The team is growing. We are looking for students and a postdoc to join the lab at Lehigh University. Please get in touch!
We use a suite of geochemical tools, from isotopic characterization and abundance analyses to thermodynamic assessments, to reveal the origin of carbon and sulfur-containing compounds in deep vent and mine fluids. Are these compounds generated by living things, or can they form without any contribution from life?
The team is growing. We are looking for students and a postdoc to join the lab at Lehigh University. Please get in touch!
Contact Information
Jill McDermott is an Assistant Professor in the Earth and Environmental Sciences department at Lehigh University. Leading up to this, she was a MAGNET postdoctoral fellow at the University of Toronto, and is an alumna of the MIT-WHOI Joint Program in Chemical Oceanography (Ph.D), the University of New Hampshire (M.Sc.), and Dartmouth College (B.A.).
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Jill M. McDermott
jill [dot] mcdermott [at] lehigh [dot] edu Assistant Professor Earth and Environmental Sciences Department Lehigh University 1 West Packer Avenue Bethlehem, PA 18015 USA Google Scholar, Research Gate |
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News
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We are joining a research expedition aboard the EV Nautilus to collect deep sea hydrothermal fluids using ROV Hercules. From October 30 to November 8, 2017, we will explore the geological, biological and geochemical features of the recently discovered Pescadero Basin hydrothermal vents. Pescadero Basin is the deepest basin (3800m) along the East Pacific Rise at the southern end of the Gulf of California. The carbonate-dominated structures at Pescadero Basin are starkly different from more common sulfide-dominated mid-ocean ridge vents. Join in on the expedition, explore the seafloor via the live video feed, and ask us questions at Nautilus Live.
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Map, above, and vent imagery, right, from Goffredi et al., 2017, Proc. B Roy. Soc.
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