NAI
Roger Summons
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
About
Current Projects
- Developing Methods for Life Detection on Mars and in Mars Analog Environments — 2016 NAI
- Environmental Evolution and Complex Life — 2016 NAI
- The MSL Mission to Mars — 2015 NAI
- Progress in the Elucidation of Microbial Biosignatures — 2015 NAI
- Fullerenes and Mass Extinctions? — 2015 NAI
- Mars Analog Studies: Ice Covered Lakes on Earth and Mars — 2015 NAI
- Evolution of Precambrian Life and Primary Producers — 2015 NAI
- Early Animals: Lipid Biosignatures — 2015 NAI
- Paleontological, Sedimentological, and Geochemical Investigations of the Mesoproterozoic-Neoproterozoic Transition — 2015 NAI
- Early Animals: Modeling the Biotic-Abiotic Interface in the Early Evolution of Multicellular Form — 2015 NAI
- Stoichiometry of Life, Task 2a: Field Studies - Yellowstone National Park — 2014 NAI
- Biosignatures of Life in Ancient Stratified Ocean Analogs — 2014 NAI
- Taphonomy, Curiosity and Missions to Mars — 2014 NAI
- Early Animals: Modeling the Biotic-Abiotic Interface in the Early Evolution of Multicellular Form — 2014 NAI
- Early Animals: Taphonomic Controls on the Early Animal Fossil Record — 2014 NAI
- Biosphere-Geosphere Stability and the Evolution of Complex Life — 2014 NAI
- Molecular Biosignatures of Redox-Sensitive Bacteria and Hyperthermophiles — 2014 NAI
- Early Animals: Lipid Biomarkers as the Earliest Evidence of Metazoans — 2014 NAI
- Early Animals: The Role of Biosignatures in Illuminating Homonin Diet — 2014 NAI
- Review and Synthesis — 2014 NAI
- Molecular Biosignatures: Reconstructing Events by Comparative Genomics — 2013 NAI
- Biosignatures in Relevant Microbial Ecosystems — 2013 NAI
- Mineralogical Traces of Early Habitable Environments — 2013 NAI
- Habitability of Water-Rich Environments, Task 4: Evaluate the Habitability of Ancient Aqueous Solutions on Mars — 2013 NAI
- Stoichiometry of Life, Task 2a: Field Studies - Yellowstone National Park — 2013 NAI
- Taphonomy, Curiosity and Missions to Mars — 2013 NAI
- Molecular Biosignatures: Preservation in Mineral-Forming Ecosystems — 2013 NAI
- Preparation of Review Articles — 2013 NAI
- Early Animals: What Made “fronds” Grow in Neoproterozoic Deep Seas? — 2013 NAI
- Molecular Biosignatures: Fossil Record of Animal Biopolymers — 2013 NAI
- Biosignatures in Relevant Microbial Ecosystems — 2012 NAI
- Biomechanics of Rangeomorph Fauna — 2012 NAI
- Geochemical Signatures of Multicellular Life — 2012 NAI
- Geochemical Signals for Low Oxygen Worlds — 2012 NAI
- Timescales of Events in the Evolution and Maintenance of Complex Life — 2012 NAI
- Mineralogical Traces of Early Habitable Environments — 2012 NAI
- Habitability of Water-Rich Environments, Task 4: Evaluate the Habitability of Ancient Aqueous Solutions on Mars — 2012 NAI
- Bacterial Steroids and Triterpenoids — 2012 NAI
- Project 1D: Establishing Biogenicity and Environmental Setting of Precambrian Kerogen and Microfossils — 2012 NAI
- Project 3B: In Situ S Isotope Studies in Archean-Proterozoic Sulfides — 2012 NAI
- Geochemical Signatures of Multicellular Life — 2011 NAI
- Biosignatures in Relevant Microbial Ecosystems — 2011 NAI
- Atmospheric Oxygen and Complex Life — 2011 NAI
- Mineralogical Traces of Early Habitable Environments — 2011 NAI
- Proxies for Ocean Anoxia — 2011 NAI
- Biomechanics of the Rangeomorph Fauna — 2011 NAI
- Astrobiological Exploration of Mars — 2011 NAI
- Molecular and Isotopic Investigations Across the Neoproterozoic — 2011 NAI
- Mineralogical Traces of Early Habitable Environments — 2010 NAI
- Astrobiological Exploration of Mars — 2010 NAI
- Environmental Oxygen and the Rise (And Fall) of Metazoans — 2010 NAI
- Geochemical Signatures of Multicellular Life — 2010 NAI
- Timscales of Events in the Evolution and Maintenance of Complex Life — 2010 NAI
- Biomechanics of the Rangeomorph Fauna — 2010 NAI
- Mineralogical Traces of Early Habitable Environments — 2009 NAI
- Timscales of Events in the Evolution and Maintenance of Complex Life — 2009 NAI
- Astrobiological Exploration of Mars — 2009 NAI
- Geochemical Signatures of Multicellular Life — 2009 NAI
- Environmental Oxygen and the Rise of Metazoans — 2009 NAI
- Stoichiometry of Life, Task 2a: Field Studies - Yellowstone National Park — 2009 NAI
- Summons Project — 2008 NAI
- Biosignatures in Chemosynthetic and Photosynthetic Systems — 2008 NAI
- Biosignatures in Chemosynthetic and Photosynthetic Systems — 2007 NAI
- Biosignatures in Chemosynthetic and Photosynthetic Systems — 2006 NAI
- Subsurface Biospheres — 2005 NAI
- Biosignatures in Chemosynthetic and Photosynthetic Systems — 2005 NAI
- Subsurface Biospheres — 2004 NAI
- Building a Habitable Planet: The Geological Record — 2004 NAI
- Biosignatures in Chemosynthetic and Photosynthetic Systems — 2004 NAI
- Building a Habitable Planet: The Geological Record — 2003 NAI
- Subsurface Biospheres — 2003 NAI
- Isotopic and Molecular Approaches to Microbial Ecology and Biogeochemistry (The Evolution of Organic Matter) — 2003 NAI
- Isotopic and Molecular Approaches to Microbial Ecology and Biogeochemistry (The Evolution of Organic Matter) — 2003 NAI
- Early Microbial Ecosystems — 2003 NAI
- Evolution of Atmospheric O2, Climate, and Biosphere - Katherine H. Freeman — 2002 NAI
- Building a Habitable Planet: The Geological Record — 2002 NAI
- Early Microbial Ecosystems — 2002 NAI
- The Planetary Context of Biological Evolution: Molecular and Isotopic Approaches to Microbial Ecology and Biogeochemistry — 2002 NAI
- The Planetary Context of Biological Evolution: Molecular and Isotopic Approaches to Microbial Ecology and Biogeochemistry — 2001 NAI
- Biogeochemical and Environmental Influences on the Composition of Late Archaean Kerogens and Extracts — 2001 NAI
- Early Microbial Ecosystems — 2001 NAI
- The Planetary Context of Biological Evolution: Research on Terminal Proterozoic Evolution and the Coevolution of Life and Environments — 2000 NAI
- Evolution of Atmospheric O2, Climate and the Terrestrial Biosphere: Approaches From Field-Oriented Geochemical Investigations. Causes and Consequences of the Diversification and Extinction of Metazoans: Field, Geochemical and Paleontological Investigations. - Katherine Freeman 1 — 2000 NAI
- Early Microbial Ecosystems: Modern Analogs — 2000 NAI
- View all 84 projects
NAI Project Collaborators
- Project collaborators as reported by the latest NAI Annual Report.
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Catherine Woodward
Institute for Biology Education - Mazomanie Outreach Outpost
Collaborated on 1 Project
Publications
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Allen, M. A., Neilan, B. A., Burns, B. P., Jahnke, L. L., & Summons, R. E. (2010). Lipid biomarkers in Hamelin Pool microbial mats and stromatolites. Organic Geochemistry, 41(11), 1207–1218. doi:10.1016/j.orggeochem.2010.07.007
See Project -
Cody, G. D., Gupta, N. S., Briggs, D. E. G., Kilcoyne, A. L. D., Summons, R. E., Kenig, F., … Scott, A. C. (2011). Molecular signature of chitin-protein complex in Paleozoic arthropods. Geology, 39(3), 255–258. doi:10.1130/g31648.1
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Jahnke, L. L., Orphan, V. J., Embaye, T., Turk, K. A., Kubo, M. D., Summons, R. E., & Des Marais, D. J. (2008). Lipid biomarker and phylogenetic analyses to reveal archaeal biodiversity and distribution in hypersaline microbial mat and underlying sediment. Geobiology, 6(4), 394–410. doi:10.1111/j.1472-4669.2008.00165.x
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Love, G. D., Grosjean, E., Stalvies, C., Fike, D. A., Grotzinger, J. P., Bradley, A. S., … Summons, R. E. (2009). Fossil steroids record the appearance of Demospongiae during the Cryogenian period. Nature, 457(7230), 718–721. doi:10.1038/nature07673
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Meyer-Dombard, D. A. R., Swingley, W., Raymond, J., Havig, J., Shock, E. L., & Summons, R. E. (2011). Hydrothermal ecotones and streamer biofilm communities in the Lower Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park. Environmental Microbiology, 13(8), 2216–2231. doi:10.1111/j.1462-2920.2011.02476.x
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Orphan, V. J., Jahnke, L. L., Embaye, T., Turk, K. A., Pernthaler, A., Summons, R. E., & Des Marais, D. J. (2008). Characterization and spatial distribution of methanogens and methanogenic biosignatures in hypersaline microbial mats of Baja California. Geobiology, 6(4), 376–393. doi:10.1111/j.1472-4669.2008.00166.x
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Pearson, A., Leavitt, W. D., Sáenz, J. P., Summons, R. E., Tam, M-M., & Close, H. G. (2009). Diversity of hopanoids and squalene-hopene cyclases across a tropical land-sea gradient. Environmental Microbiology, 11(5), 1208–1223. doi:10.1111/j.1462-2920.2008.01817.x
See Project -
Summons, R. E., Amend, J. P., Bish, D., Buick, R., Cody, G. D., Des Marais, D. J., … Sumner, D. Y. (2011). Preservation of Martian Organic and Environmental Records: Final Report of the Mars Biosignature Working Group. Astrobiology, 11(2), 157–181. doi:10.1089/ast.2010.0506
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Welander, P. V., & Summons, R. E. (2012). Discovery, taxonomic distribution, and phenotypic characterization of a gene required for 3-methylhopanoid production. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 109(32), 12905–12910. doi:10.1073/pnas.1208255109
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Welander, P. V., Doughty, D. M., Wu, C-H., Mehay, S., Summons, R. E., & Newman, D. K. (2012). Identification and characterization of Rhodopseudomonas palustris TIE-1 hopanoid biosynthesis mutants. Geobiology, 10(2), 163–177. doi:10.1111/j.1472-4669.2011.00314.x
See Project - Anbar, A.D., Boyd, E.S., Buick, R., Claire, M., Des Marais, D., Domagal-Goldman, S., Eigenbrode, J., Erwin, D., Freeman, K., Hazen, R., Johnson, C., Lyons, T., Meadows, V., Ohmoto, H., Ono, S., Peters, J.W., Shapiro, B., Summons, R. & Walter, M. (2010). An Archean biosphere initiative [abstract 5593]. Astrobiology Science Conference 2010. See Project
- Ghisalberti, M., Jacobs, D.K., Gold, D.A., Laflamme, M., Clapham, M.E., Narbonne, G., Johnston, D.T. & Summons, R. (2011). Canopy Flow Models Identify A Scaling Advantage For Large Size In The Mistaken Point Rangeomorphs, The Worlds Oldest Community Of Multicellular Eukaryotes. Geological Society of America Annual Meeting. Minneapolis MN. See Project
- Gold, D.A., Laflamme, M., Johnston, D.T., Summons, R.E. & Jacobs, D.K. (2010). Constraints on the Evolution of the Ediacara with Special Consideration of the Mistaken Point Rangeomorph Fauna. Astrobiology Science Conference 2010: Evolution and Life: Surviving Catastrophes and Extremes on Earth and Beyond. League City, Texas. See Project
- Kelly, A.E., Love, G.D., Lyons, T.W., Anbar, A.D., Summons, R.E. & Bowden, S.A. (2010). A cautionary tale from the 1.64 Ga Barney Creek formation. In preparation. See Project
- Ventura, G.T., Kenig, F., Kelly, A.E. & Summons, R.E. (2009). Biomarker patterns of the Late Neoproterozoic Kwagunt Formation, Chuar Group (~800-742 Ma), Grand Canyon USA – A record of biogeochemical instability prior to the Cryogenian Period. Organic Geochemistry, In Review. See Project
- View all 15 publications
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Phone:
617-452-2791 -
Fax:
617-253-8630 -
Email:
rsummons@mit.edu -
Discipline
Chemistry
Past NAI Teams
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Harvard University
CAN 1 -
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
CAN 4
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NASA Ames Research Center
CAN 1 -
University of Wisconsin
CAN 6 -
University of Rhode Island
CAN 2 -
University of Washington
CAN 2 -
Pennsylvania State University
CAN 1 -
Arizona State University
CAN 5 -
NASA Ames Research Center
CAN 5 -
Pennsylvania State University
CAN 5 -
University of Wisconsin
CAN 4 -
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
CAN 6
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NASA Ames Research Center
CAN 3