Robert Jones“RJ” (PhD student in Civil and Environmental Engineering) will explore how microorganisms could be used to drive greenhouse-gas-producing materials such as permafrost and food waste into needed products including biofuels. This work could aid local economics where such materials occur. Matt Scarborough will advise Robert. He was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona and thus did not own anything with long sleeves until he moved to New Hampshire in 2014. Since living in New England, he’s begrudgingly sacrificed his tolerance for extreme heat for one of extreme cold and can say without sarcasm that -20°C “really isn’t that bad”. This is fortunate as his favorite regions of study are the Arctic and Subarctic. For the past decade RJ has been a researcher at the Engineer Research and Development Center’s Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory where he was part of a team that studied microorganisms in terrestrial environments with an emphasis on Arctic and Subarctic systems particularly areas with permafrost. He is fascinated by the treasure trove of microorganisms that can be found in terrestrial ecosystems which are known to house one of the most diverse microbiomes on the planet. He is specifically interested in the bioengineering aspects of these microbes and the endless possibilities they represent.
With sustainability in mind, one such possibility is waste and material conversion. Terrestrial media (soil, sediment, permafrost) have an abundance of microorganisms that can breakdown substrates into a myriad of products. RJ is interested in understanding the microorganisms in carbon dense material such as permafrost or food waste streams; what they are breaking the carbon containing substrates into and more importantly if they could be manipulated to predominately follow a specific metabolic pathway to achieve a desired product. Permafrost is of particular interest to RJ because as the permafrost laden regions in the Arctic and Subarctic continue to warm, microbes in the permafrost have shown a predilection for converting the carbon into greenhouse gases thus exacerbating climate change. Similarly, in the US alone greenhouse gas production from food waste streams is in the ten of millions of metric tons. RJ wants to explore alternative pathways for permafrost and other carbon-rich materials using microbial bioreactors to drive the material to societally constructive products such as biofuels, material precursors, or feedstocks for sustainable food production through edible microorganisms. He hopes that this research could aid in the development of local economies, sustainable resource production, and waste mitigation at point of source especially for remote communities in the high Arctic.
Outside of his studies RJ loves biking, picnics under a tree, video games, roleplaying games like Dungeons and Dragons, trying and cooking new foods, diving into the all the music genres the world has, and exploring whatever new hobby he’s become obsessed with like sewing and home fermentation. RJ is also loves social running and would like to extend an invitation to anyone to go on a fun run with him!
Advisor: Matt Scarborough
