By Ryan Wichelns

 

In many ways, the fields of geology and biology are very different from one

another, varying dramatically from studying the life of our planet to studying the

rocks that make it up. But University of Rhode Island professor Dr. Dawn

Cardace has made her life’s work and her passion out of their combination. 

 

With backgrounds in microbiology, mineralogy, and the obscure combination-

field of geobiochemistry, Cardace has developed a diverse knowledge base

that helps her tackle problems that require such an expansive expertise. It

allows her to answer questions like “how the geosphere cradles life,” especially

in the Earths most extreme places and even in outer space. 

 

Her interest began as a Ranger for the National Park Service. She was hired for

her knowledge of world languages after having received her bachelors degree

in French literature. But when Cardace wasn’t helping tourists, she was in the

library educating herself on the parks, especially on their geology. 

 

Cardace spends a lot of her time studying rocks known as ophiolites, rocks that

were once part of the oceanic crust, deep in the earth, but have been forced up

and are now exposed at the Earths surface. She spends a lot of time visiting rocks like these in places like the Philippines or the Pacific Northwest, studying them for minute signs of microbiological life that once existed in one of the planets most inhospitable places. 

 

Recently, Cardace received a grant to drill a series of eight scientific monitoring wells in Northern California to test the extremely basic water found deep in the Earths core, there. She’s looking for what she calls “deep-earth exhalations,” amounts of methane and other gasses that she says might support microbial life from deep within the Earth. 

 

Research like this can potentially have a more immediate impact on peoples everyday life. Ophiolites bring much of these iron-rich deep-earth water, gasses, and chemicals to the surface, contaminating peoples drinking water supplies. She’s hoping to research and locate places where this could be an issue.

 

Cardace’s passion for her field is obvious when speaking to her. She talks about all of it with such an eagerness to share everything she knows. “I think theres something magic in that,” she said, referring to her excitement with looking at rocks that were created eons ago and at depths of the Earth that we can only imagine as human beings. But whether magic or science, Cardace has found a niche, not in one field, but in her own combination of them, studying, as she says, “messages from deep earth.”