I received a Bachelor’s degree in Biological Oceanography from the University of Washington in 1998, after which I immediately began working for Dr. John Baross on the microbial ecology of deep-sea hydrothermal vents. My work included culturing of thermophilic and hyperthermophilic microbes as well as numerous genetic studies. Projects in which I was involved included investigation of microbial community structure at Axial Volcano on the Juan de Fuca Ridge, in carbonate chimneys from the Lost City Hydrothermal Field on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, and from volcanoes along the Mariana Volcanic Arc.
In 2006 I moved to Victoria, BC to begin working as a lab technician for Kim Juniper. I am currently working on a project investigating the diversity of microbial eukaryotes in hydrothermal vent fluids from the Mariana Arc. In addition to this research I teach undergraduate and graduate students in how to use molecular methods to help answer questions of microbial ecology.
Publications
Murdock, S., Johnson, H., Forget, N., and S.K. Juniper. 2010. Composition and diversity of microbial mats at shallow hydrothermal vents on Volcano 1, South Tonga Arc. Cah. Biol. Mar. 51:407-413.
Forget, N.L., Murdock, S.A., and S.K. Juniper. 2009. Bacterial diversity in Fe-rich hydrothermal sediments at two South Tonga Arc submarine volcanoes. Geobiology 8:417-432.
(as S. Bolton)
Schrenk, M.O., Kelley, D.S., Bolton, S.A., and J.A. Baross. 2004. Low archaeal diversity linked to subseafloor geochemical processes at the Lost City Hydrothermal Field, Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Environmental Microbiology 6:1086-1095.
Holden, J.F., Takai, K., Summit, M., Bolton, S., Zyskowski, J., and J.A. Baross. 2001. Diversity among three novel groups of hyperthermophilic deep-sea Thermococcus species from three sites in the northeastern Pacific Ocean. FEMS Microbiology Ecology 36:51-60.
Contact her at sbolton@uvic.ca
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