Dr. Frank F. Roberto

My primary interest in Yellowstone is in thermoacidophilic bacteria and archaea.  I have worked for the past 18 years on the genetics and ecology of acidophilic bacteria found in natural and man-made  environments.  Sampling sites in Yellowstone have included Frying Pan hot spring (and nearby pool), Roaring Mountain, Moose Pool (Mud Volcano area), and various small pools along the Gibbon River and in the Norris Geyser Basin.  I am a coinvestigator with Mark Young (as well as Dave Mogk and Ken Steadman) in a Microbial Observatories project entitled "Viruses from Yellowstone Thermal Acidic Environments. "   Ragged Hills, Rabbit Creek, and Crater Hills hot, acidic springs are part of this study.  My lab performs much of the archaeal 16S rRNA and virus sequencing associated with the project. 

Another major line of research in my lab involves molecular techniques to identify Brucella, a zoonotic pathogen of bison and elk, and a significant controversy in the Greater Yellowstone Area, but that's another story....Dr. Deborah Newby, another RCN participant, is a co-investigator in much of this work.