WILLIAM BRAZELTON portrait
  • Research Associate Professor, School Of Biological Sciences

Research Summary

I study natural microbial communities in a variety of environments, from hydrothermal vents in the deep sea to the Bonneville Salt Flats. I specialize in metagenomic approaches to discover new species of microbes that cannot be grown in a laboratory. Recently, we have also applied our metagenomic techniques to survey environmental reservoirs of antibiotic resistance. All of my projects are interdisciplinary and involve extensive collaboration with diverse scientists and engineers.

Education

  • B.S., Genetics and Cell Biology (summa cum laude), Univeristy of Minnesota
  • M.S., Biological Oceanography, University of Washington
  • Ph.D, Biological Oceanography and Astrobiology, University of Washington

Biography

The more outre and grotesque an incident is the more carefully it deserves to be examined, and the very point which appears to complicate a case is, when duly considered and scientifically handled, the one which is most likely to elucidate it." 
- Sherlock Holmes, The Hound of the Baskervilles

This Holmesian principle of unusual clues and detective work applies perfectly to unusual organisms and biology. The weirdest lifeforms can trigger Eureka! moments in biology by forcing our brains to consider novel concepts. This is why the Brazelton lab studies extremophilic microbes:  weird archaea and bacteria inspire us to consider unusual ideas about ecology and evolution.

One research focus of the lab is the study of serpentinite-hosted ecosystems. These environments host a set of extreme environmental conditions created by a geochemical process known as serpentinization, which releases hydrogen gas, methane, and other simple organic compounds that are attractive food and energy sources for microbes. Serpentinization has been occurring on Earth ever since it became cool enough to have liquid water, and it is also expected to occur on other planets, such as Mars. Therefore, the lessons we learn by studying the weird archaea and bacteria associated with serpentinization are likely to help us understand the origin, distribution, and evolution of life in the solar system.

We take highly interdisciplinary, collaborative approaches to investigate these broad questions, and our lab uses a variety of tools that couple metagenomic techniques with biogeochemistry measurements in the field and traditional cultivation-based techniques in the laboratory. Our field sites currently include the Lost City hydrothermal field in the Atlantic Ocean, the Tablelands Ophiolite in Newfoundland, the Ligurian alkaline springs of Italy, and The Coast Range Ophiolite Microbial Observatory in California.  All of these projects are conducted as partnerships with excellent, interdisciplinary teams of collaborators.