Photo of USGS Research Hydrologist Ronald Oremland at Mono Lake, California.USGS
Over his career, Ron mentored 28 postdocs, graduate students, and technicians, and published approximately 200 peer-reviewed papers.Photo courtesy of Karen Johannesson
Ron Oremland on the water at Mono Lake in California.Photo courtesy of Laurence Miller
Ron Oremland at Mono Lake in California.Photo courtesy of Laurence Miller
Ron Oremland in the field at Mono Lake in California.Photo courtesy of Laurence Miller
The astrobiology community mourns the loss and celebrates the life of Dr. Ronald S. Oremland (known to all as “Ron”), emeritus senior scientist at the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park, California who left this world on September 16, 2021 after a long battle with leukemia. He is survived by his wife Fran, his nephews Leonard and Howard Oremland, his scientific family (Larry Miller, Jodi Switzer Blum, Jim Cloern, John Stolz, Chuck Culbertson, Shelley Hoeft McCann, Shaun Baesman, Denise Akob, and many others), his bacterial namesake Alkaliphilus oremlandii, and numerous favorite bugs, including his beloved Syntrophotalea acetylenivorans.
Dr. Ronald S. Oremland leading a team of researchers in the field.Image credit: Photo courtesy of Karen Johannesson.
Ron was a pioneer in the field of microbial ecology and biogeochemistry of extreme habitats. Ron was born on October 23, 1946. He was raised in Brooklyn and studied biology at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where he was greatly influenced by a geomicrobiology course taught by Henry Ehrlich. After graduating in 1968, Ron served as an active duty officer in the U.S. Navy, followed by graduate school at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, where his passion for anaerobic microbiology in salty environments flourished. After receiving his PhD in 1976, Ron moved to NASA Ames for a postdoc. Over the next four decades, California became Ron’s playground for extreme microbe hunting, most notably to characterize the microbial biogeochemical cycling of arsenic, selenium, and acetylene in Mono and Searles Lakes. His group’s research vastly expanded possibilities for the habitats that could harbor life in the universe.
Over his career, Ron mentored 28 postdocs, graduate students, and technicians, and published approximately 200 peer-reviewed papers. He was an elected fellow of the American Geophysical Union, the American Academy of Microbiology, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the proud recipient of the 2020 Environmental Science Award from the American Society for Microbiology.
Dr. Ronald S. Oremland (known to all as “Ron”), emeritus senior scientist at the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park, California.Image credit: Photo courtesy of Karen Johannesson.
In his final years, Ron authored a memoir, It Was a Stark and Dormy Night (2021) about his days as a Navy officer and a series of essays chronicling his lifetime of adventures in environmental microbiology (See Related Links below). These essays capture the essence of Ron’s exuberant personality and are particularly encouraging to early career researchers looking to chart their own path in science. Ron’s wit, energy, and joie de vivre were infectious, inspiring many students to pursue careers in environmental microbiology. He cared just as dearly for his human community as his beloved microbial communities. Holidays won’t be the same without his festive cards, often filled with Yiddish idioms. Conferences won’t be the same without his Gilbert & Sullivan and Tom Lehrer serenades. Ron inspired everyone he worked with. Without a doubt, Ron’s love and excitement for science will live on through everyone he touched. Thank you Ron; we miss you.
Dr. Ronald S. Oremland was a pioneer in the field of microbial ecology and biogeochemistry of extreme habitats.Image credit: Photo courtesy of Karen Johannesson.
Related Links:
Why I never worked on anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) beyond the unsuccessful attempts of my NRC postdoc at NASA Ames Research Center (Sept. 1976–Sept. 1977)
Got acetylene: a personal research retrospective
Got Selenium?
The Great (Toilet) Paper Chase: Our Study of the 1979 San Francisco Bay Sewage Spill (As Motivated by Walter Cronkite and the CBS Evening News)