Memphis Jane Hill
Arctic Leadership Initiative Postdoctoral Fellow
My current research focuses on metal-microbe interactions involving critical mineral resources in Alaska. My overarching goals are to develop sustainable biomining and rare earth purification methods that provide lasting economic opportunities for Alaskans. I am working with Dr. Brandon Briggs at the University of Alaska Anchorage to design and test sustainable biotechnologies using microbes to mobilize and sequester critical metals from raw minerals and mine wastes. My work is multi-disciplinary, drawing from geological, chemical, and microbiological data. I am also interested in the impacts of deglaciation and warming on microbial community structure and function and the broader implications of warming for biogeochemical cycles and ecosystems in the Arctic.
Research Interests
My research interests include; microbe-mineral interactions, sustainable biomining practices, water and soil quality, circular economies, and human impacts on the environment. I am excited by scaling up, be it scaling molecular findings to landscape-level models or small batch bioreactors to industry scale processes. I believe that understanding ecosystems and long-term impacts of human activity on the environment requires both a zoomed in and wide lens perspective. I hope to continue expanding my research technique toolbox so that I can ultimately run a research lab that integrates molecular biology, geochemistry, ecology, and geographic information systems datasets. I have experience in all of these fields, but I know there is always more to learn.
Publications
M. Hill, et al. "Pond Sediments Reveal the Increasing Importance of Road Runoff as a Source of Metal Contamination in Industrialized Urban Environments Downwind of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (USA)." ACS ES&T Water. (2023)
L. Badertscher, et al. "Elevated sediment radionuclide concentrations downstream of facilities treating leachate from landfills accepting oil and gas waste" Ecological Indicators. (2023)
D. Bain, et al. "The Effects of Subsidence Resulting from Underground Bituminous Coal Mining in Pennsylvania (2013 – 2018)." Bituminous Mine Subsidence and Land Conservation Act, Act 54 Amendments, 5th Five-Year Report. (2019)