Biology Faculty and Staff
Ron Peck
As a microbiologist, I am fascinated with how life on Earth has adapted to live in nearly every environment. Microbial life has even been found in a number of places that were previously thought to be hostile to life, such as boiling hot springs and acidic water pools in Yellowstone National Park. I research a related ‘extreme-loving’ microbe, Halobacterium salinarum, that lives in exceptionally salty conditions such as Utah’s Great Salt Lake and Israel’s Dead Sea (not so dead after all!). Students in my laboratory use molecular biological and biochemical techniques to study how Halobacterium thrives in this harsh environment.
Education:
PhD UW-Madison
Post-doctoral Fellowship, UW-Madison
Courses Offered: Microbiology, Integrative Biology: Principles, Freshman Studies
