Jennifer Biddle

Professor, Marine Science and Policy

  • Lewes DE UNITED STATES

Prof. Biddle's research interests include microbial ecology of marine systems, deep biosphere life, benthic archaea and bacteria.

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Biography

Jennifer F. Biddle is an American microbiologist who is a professor of microbial ecology at the University of Delaware. Biddle joined the Department of Geosciences, then moved to University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as a postdoctoral researcher in 2007, supported by the NASA postdoctoral program. Biddle is interested in the microbial ecology of subsurface environments. Her early research made use of deep sea drilling to identify organisms in the ocean floor. She used genomic analysis to identify microbes in sediment collected 500 feet below the ocean floor during the Ocean Drilling Program in 2002.

Biddle also investigated the organisms in deep lakes in the Canadian Rockies. She studied Pavilion Lake through genomic analysis of a series of samples collected at different depths. Working with ExxonMobil, Biddle demonstrated that microbial communities found in deeper seafloor sediments in and around sites of hydrocarbon seepage had considerable available energy and high population turnover rates.

In 2010, Biddle was appointed an assistant professor at the University of Delaware. She was promoted to associate professor in 2017 and full Professor in 2022.

Industry Expertise

Research
Education/Learning

Areas of Expertise

Geobiology
Deep Biosphere Life
Microbial Ecology
Marine Systems
Benthic Archaea and Bacteria

Media Appearances

These 3 Delaware waterways are contaminated with human waste. Here’s what to know

The News Journal/Delaware Online  print

2024-11-29

Jennifer Biddle, coauthor of the study and a professor at the University of Delaware’s School of Marine Science and Policy, said she and her team expanded this study by evaluating Love Creek in addition to Broadkill and Murderkill rivers over the span of multiple months to trace back the sources of bacterial pollution.

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Human waste has been detected in Southern Delaware waterways. Home septic systems may be to blame

WHYY  online

2024-11-21

“Something people can think about is making sure that they keep their septic clean and pumped, making sure that it’s up to code, and just making sure that they maintain [the system’s] potential impact on the environment,” said researcher Jennifer Biddle, a professor at the University of Delaware’s School of Marine Science and Policy.

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Deep-Sea Microbes: New Research Looks at Life Inside and Outside of Seafloor Hydrocarbon Seeps

SciTechDaily  online

2020-07-12

Using sediment samples collected by ExxonMobil researchers, UD professor Jennifer Biddle and her lab group — including Rui Zhao, a postdoctoral researcher who is the first author on the paper; Kristin Yoshimura, who received her doctorate from UD; and Glenn Christman, a bioinformatician — worked on a study in collaboration with Zara Summers, an ExxonMobil microbiologist.

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Articles

Helarchaeota and co-occurring sulfate-reducing bacteria in subseafloor sediments from the Costa Rica Margin

ISME Communications volume

2021

Deep sediments host many archaeal lineages, including the Asgard superphylum which contains lineages predicted to require syntrophic partnerships. Our knowledge about sedimentary archaeal diversity and their metabolic pathways and syntrophic partners is still very limited. We present here new genomes of Helarchaeota and the co-occurring sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) recovered from organic-rich sediments off Costa Rica Margin.

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Expanding the repertoire of electron acceptors for the anaerobic oxidation of methane in carbonates in the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean

The ISME Journal

2021

Authigenic carbonates represent a significant microbial sink for methane, yet little is known about the microbiome responsible for the methane removal. We identify carbonate microbiomes distributed over 21 locations hosted by seven different cold seeps in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans by carrying out a gene-based survey using 16S rRNA- and mcrA gene sequencing coupled with metagenomic analyses.

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Introducing Candidatus Bathyanammoxibiaceae, a family of bacteria with the anammox potential present in both marine and terrestrial environments

ISME Communications

2022

Anaerobic ammonium oxidation (Anammox) bacteria are a group of extraordinary bacteria exerting a major impact on the global nitrogen cycle. Their phylogenetic breadth and diversity, however, are not well constrained. Here we describe a new, deep-branching family in the order of Candidatus Brocadiales, Candidatus Bathyanammoxibiaceae, members of which have genes encoding the key enzymes of the anammox metabolism.

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Accomplishments

International Ocean Drilling Program Distinguished Lecturer

2013-2014

Education

Rutgers University

BS

Biotechnology

1999

The Pennsylvania State University

PhD

Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

2006

Dissertation: Microbial populations and processes in subseafloor marine environments

Affiliations

  • MicroSeminar : creator and organizer
  • International Society of Microbial Ecology (ISME) Journal : Senior Editorial Board