Professor
rick.colwell@oregonstate.edu

Office: 541-737-5220

Weniger Hall

Weniger Hall 519

103 SW Memorial Place

103 SW Memorial Place
Corvallis, OR 97331

Profile Field Tabs

At OSU
Brief Research Interests: 

Microbial ecology, subsurface microbiology, geomicrobiology

Location: 
Building: 
Email: 
rick.colwell@oregonstate.edu
Website: 
Colwell Geomicrobiology Lab at OSU
Vita: 
PDF icon colwell.pdf

Research Interests

Microbial ecology, subsurface microbiology, geomicrobiology, coupling of microbial rates and processes to physical and chemical parameters in the environment, sensing and monitoring of microbes, methods for sampling the earth’s subsurface for microorganisms, bioremediation.

Current Research

  • Microbiology of methane hydrates and methane seeps in marine sediments.
  • Microbial induced calcite precipitation in aquifers and the subsurface.
  • Molecular methods for detecting microbes in the environment.
  • Estimates of in situ rates of microbial activities in deep Earth environments.
  • Diversity of microbes in Earth systems.

Education

1986 Ph.D., Microbiology, Virginia Tech
1982 M.S., Microbiology, Northern Arizona University
1977 B.A., Biology, Whitman College