Dr. Sherry L. Cady is an Associate Professor of  Biogeochemistry in the Department of Geology. She is Editor-in-Chief of the new international scientific journal Astrobiology-the first peer-reviewed journal in this emerging scientific discipline. Sherry is co-founder and vice chair of the Geobiology and Geomicrobiology Division of the Geological Society of America and serves on the Editorial Board of another new journal Geobiology.
Cady also serves on the Biogeosciences Steering Group for the National Science Foundation. Her research focuses on biogeochemical interactions, especially those of microbial communities in extreme ecosystems. The results of her projects have implications for distinguishing life's imprint in the ancient geological record. Her research takes her to hot springs around the world, most recently to Kamchatka, Russia.
Cady's discovery that microorganisms at life's upper temperature limit produce fossil biosignatures, has spawned several NASA and NSF sponsored research projects. Most recently an article that reports her submicroscopic characterization of unique carbonate mounds in a Canadian freshwater lake was published in Nature magazine; images of the mounds were featured on the issue's cover. Cady was recognized by Time magazine as one of its top five "Scientific Innovators" to watch in the coming decade.
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