The NSF RIDGE2000 program sponsored Rapid Response cruise in January 2007 on the East Pacific Ridge (EPR). The SGER covers salary expenses for the investigator's participation in the cruise. The research conducted by the investigator is obviously time sensitive and ventures into transformative science in understanding microbial communities at hydrothermal vents. The investigator asserts that autotrophic bacteria are the first colonizers at hydrothermal vents, followed by increasing numbers of heterotrophic microorganisms over time. Participation in the rapid response cruise allowed the investigator the opportunity to conduct the necessary sampling to test this hypothesis. Analyses following the cruise include extraction of nucleic acids and lipids from the pump filters as well as determine the kind of microbes that have colonized the basalt.
