Dr. Cassandra L. Marnocha

Biography

Dr. Cassandra L. Marnocha joined the biology faculty in 2016. She received her B.S. from the University of Wisconsin – Green Bay and her Ph.D. from the University of Arkansas. Before coming to Niagara University, she was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Delaware. She teaches courses in microbiology and environmental studies, along with General Biology and Senior Seminar. Dr. Marnocha is an environmental microbiologist with research interests in microbial biogeochemical cycling, endoliths (microorganisms that live in rocks), microbe-mineral interactions, and astrobiology. Her current work includes field research of acidic springs found at the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge, where she investigates the microbial communities involved in sulfur cycling.

Publications

• Marnocha, C.L. (2017) Rock coatings and their implications
  for astrobiology on Mars: protection, preservation, and practicality. Elements, 13(3), 187-191.
• Marnocha, C.L., Levy, A.T., Powell, D.H., Hanson,
  T.E., and C.S. Chan. (2016) Mechanisms of extracellular S(0) globule production and degradation in
  Chlorobaculum tepidum via dynamic cell-globule interactions, Microbiology, 126, 1125-1134.
• Hanson, T.E., Bonsu, E., Tuerk, A.,
  Marnocha, C.L., Powell, D.H., and C.S. Chan. (2015) Chlorobaculum tepidum growth on biogenic S(0) as the sole photosynthetic electron donor,
  Environmental Microbiology, 18(9), 2856-2867.
• Marnocha, C.L. and J.C. Dixon. (2014) Endolithic
  bacterial communities in rock coatings from Kärkevagge, Swedish Lapland, FEMS Microbiology Ecology, 90(2), 533-542.
• Marnocha, C.L. and J.C. Dixon. (2014) Bacterially-facilitated
  rock coating formation as a component of the geochemical budget in cold climates: An example from Kärkevagge, Swedish Lapland,
  Geomorphology, 218, 45-51.
• Marnocha, C.L.
  and J.C. Dixon. (2013) Bacterial communities in Fe/Mn films, sulfate crusts, and aluminum glazes from Swedish Lapland: Implications for astrobiology on Mars, International Journal of Astrobiology, 12(4), 345-356.