Paula V. Welander
Geomicrobiologist
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Paula Veronica Welander is a microbiologist and professor at Stanford University[1] who is known for her research using lipid biomarkers to investigate how life evolved on Earth.
Paula Welander | |
|---|---|
| Alma mater | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign |
| Children | 2 |
| Scientific career | |
| Thesis | Analysis of Methylotrophic Methanogenesis in Methanosarcina Barkeri Fusaro (2007) |
Early life and career
Welander was born and raised in the San Fernando Valley, California. Her mother and father immigrated from Mexico to Los Angeles in the early 1970's.[2] She received her undergraduate degree from Occidental College in Los Angeles in 1998.[3] She has a master's degree (2003) and a Ph.D. (2007) from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.[3] She went on to do postdoctoral studies at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the Departments of Biology and of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences.[4] Welander began her position at Stanford University in 2013,[3] and was awarded tenure in 2019.[4]
Research
Welander's graduate research examined factors controlling the use of methane by a group of Archaea.[5] For her postdoctoral research, she examined the production of a group of chemical compounds known as hopanoids.[6][7] Welander has examined lipids in acid-loving archaea and how changes in the lipids alter a cell's ability to grow.[8][9] Her research has further expanded our understanding of the organisms that produce triterpenoid lipids in aquatic environments.[10] Her more recent research centers on lipids, known as glycerol dibiphytanyl glycerol tetraethers (GDGTs), that are found in archaeal cell walls.[11][12] Collectively, her research on lipids can be used to characterize how microbial life on Earth has changed over time.[13]
Honors and awards
In 2018, Welander received the Geobiology and Geomicrobiology Division Award for Outstanding Research from the Geological Society of America.[14] She also received a CAREER award from the National Science Foundation.[3]
Selected publications
- Sessions, Alex L.; Doughty, David M.; Welander, Paula V.; Summons, Roger E.; Newman, Dianne K. (2009-07-28). "The Continuing Puzzle of the Great Oxidation Event". Current Biology. 19 (14): R567–R574. Bibcode:2009CBio...19.R567S. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2009.05.054. hdl:1721.1/96187. ISSN 0960-9822. PMID 19640495. S2CID 7346329.
- Welander, Paula V.; Hunter, Ryan C.; Zhang, Lichun; Sessions, Alex L.; Summons, Roger E.; Newman, Dianne K. (2009). "Hopanoids Play a Role in Membrane Integrity and pH Homeostasis in Rhodopseudomonas palustris TIE-1". Journal of Bacteriology. 191 (19): 6145–6156. doi:10.1128/JB.00460-09. ISSN 0021-9193. PMC 2747905. PMID 19592593.
- Welander, Paula V.; Coleman, Maureen L.; Sessions, Alex L.; Summons, Roger E.; Newman, Dianne K. (2010-05-11). "Identification of a methylase required for 2-methylhopanoid production and implications for the interpretation of sedimentary hopanes". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 107 (19): 8537–8542. Bibcode:2010PNAS..107.8537W. doi:10.1073/pnas.0912949107. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 2889317. PMID 20421508.
- Wei, Jeremy H.; Yin, Xinchi; Welander, Paula V. (2016). "Sterol Synthesis in Diverse Bacteria". Frontiers in Microbiology. 7: 990. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2016.00990. ISSN 1664-302X. PMC 4919349. PMID 27446030.
- Welander, Paula V.; Summons, Roger E. (2012-08-07). "Discovery, taxonomic distribution, and phenotypic characterization of a gene required for 3-methylhopanoid production". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 109 (32): 12905–12910. Bibcode:2012PNAS..10912905W. doi:10.1073/pnas.1208255109. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 3420191. PMID 22826256.