Research output per year
Research output per year
Telefoon | +31 20 59 87365 |
[email protected] | |
Kamer | H-342 |
Mónica’s research concentrates on the interactions between biosphere and geosphere with an emphasis in geomicrobiology and biogeochemistry. Her research interests are mainly focused on low temperature and environmental geochemistry with a focus on biomineralization and/or mineral-microbe interactions that play a key role in biogeochemical processes. Studies of important modern environmental systems, such as hypersaline and alkaline lagoons (Lagoa Vermelha and Brejo do Espinho, Brazil) and extreme acidic environments (Rio Tinto, Spain), have led her to evaluate the biogeochemical influences on these extreme environments. The main goals of her research are (1) the study of the physico-chemical parameters controlling the sediment production in modern Earth surface environments; (2) the simulation of those physico-chemical conditions in laboratory experiments using the microbial community associated with the production of those sediments and (3) to understand the influence of microbes on mineral precipitation in modern and ancient systems on Earth, extraterrestrial planets and extraplanetary bodies.
She was awarded a PhD in Earth Sciences from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich. Since then, she has continued to develop her research career holding positions at the University of Georgia (USA) and the Savannah River National Laboratory (USA) with a NASA fellowship to study the formation of carbonates (e.g., dolomite, ankerite, siderite) at low temperature and their implication for the search of Life in other planets such as Mars. Afterwards, she moved to the National Institute of Aerospace Technology (INTA), in Madrid (Spain), with a ERC fellowship to study the formation of carbonate and sulfate minerals in the extreme acidic environment of Rio Tinto and its implication for the terrestrial and extraterrestrial geological records, respectively. Currently, she is an Assistant Professor in the Earth Science Department at the Vrije University (VU) in Amsterdam (Netherlands). In recent years, her research has focused on the biotic and abiotic formation of sedimentary (low temperature) carbonates, phosphates, sulfates and silicates in (hyper)saline and extreme acidic environments in order to define potential biosignatures for early life on Earth and Mars.
Research interest:
• Sedimentary geochemistry of carbonates, phosphates, sulfates and silicates
• Geomicrobiology and biogeochemistry
• Biomineralization and mineral-microbe interactions
• Isotope tracers in biological and inorganic systems
• Astrobiology, Early Earth and Mars
• Nanotechnology
Selected Publications:
- Sánchez-Román M, Puente-Sánchez F, Parro V, Amils R (2015)Nucleation of Fe-rich phosphate and carbonate on microbial cells and exopolymeric substances. Frontiers in Microbiology (Nature Publishing Group) 6, 1024.
- Sánchez-Román M, Fernández-Remolar D, Amils R; Sánchez-Navas; Schmid T; San Martin-Uriz, Rodriguez N, McKenzie JA, Vasconcelos C (2014) Microbial mediated formation of Fe-carbonate minerals under extreme acidic conditions. Scientific Reports (Nature Publishing Group)4: 4767.
- Puente-Sánchez F, Sánchez-Román M,Amils R, Parro V. (2014) Tessaracoccus lapiscapta sp. nov., a novel actinobacterium isolated from the deep subsurface of the Iberian Pyritic Belt (Huelva, Spain). International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology 64, 3546-3552.
- Amils R; Fernández-Remolar D, Parro V, Rodríguez-Manfredi JA, Oggerin M, Sánchez-Román M, López F. et al (2014) Río Tinto: A Geochemical and Mineralogical Terrestrial Analogue of Mars. Life4, 511-534.
- Oggerin M, Tornos F, Rodríguez N, del Moral C, Sánchez-Román M and Amils R (2013) Specific jarosite biomineralization by Purpureocillium lilacinum , an acidophilic fungi isolated from Río Tinto. Environmental Microbiology15, 2228-2237.
- Amils R; Fernández-Remolar D, Parro V, Rodríguez-Manfredi JA, Timmis K, Oggerin M, Sánchez- Román M, López F. et al (2013). Iberian Pyrite Belt Subsurface Life (IPBSL), a drilling project of biohydrometallurgical interest. Advanced Materials Research 825, 15 - 18.
-Sánchez-Navas A, Martín-Algarra A, Sánchez-Román M, Jiménez-López C, Nieto F and Ruiz
Bustos A (2013) Crystal Growth of Inorganic and Biomediated Carbonates and Phosphates.
Materials Science, Advanced Topics on Crystal Growth, 67-88.
- Fernández-Remolar DC, Preston LJ, Sánchez-Román M, Izawa MRM, Huang L, Southam G, Banerjee NR. et al (2012). Carbonate precipitation under bulk acidic conditions as a potential biosignature for searching life on Mars. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 351–352, 13-26.
- Krause S, Liebetrau V, Gorb S, Sánchez-Román M, McKenzie JA and Treude T (2012) Microbial nucleation of Mg-rich dolomite in exopolymeric substances under anoxic modern seawater salinity: New insight into an old enigma. Geology, 40, 587-590.
- Blanco Y, Prieto-Ballesteros O, Gómez MJ, Moreno-Paz M, García-Villadangos M, Rodríguez- Manfredi JA, Cruz-Gil P, Sánchez-Román M, Rivas LA, Parro V. (2012). Prokaryotic communities and operating metabolisms in the surface and the permafrost of Deception Island (Antarctica). Environmental Microbiology14, 2495 - 2510.
- Fernández-Remolar DC, Sánchez-Román M, Hill A, Gómez-Ortiz D, Prieto Balleteros O, Romanek CS, Amils R (2011). The environment of early Mars and the missing carbonates. Meteoritics & Planetary Science46, 1447-1469.
- Sánchez-Román M, Romanek C, Fernandez Remolar D, Sanchez Navas A, McKenzie JA, Amils R, Vasconcelos C. (2011). Aerobic biomineralization of Mg-rich carbonates: Implications for natural environments. Chemical Geology 281, 143 - 150.
- Sánchez-Román M, McKenzie JA , de Luca Rebello Wagener A, Romanek CS, Sánchez-Navas A and Vasconcelos C (2011). Experimentally determined biomediated Sr partition coefficient for dolomite: Significance and implication for natural dolomite. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta75, 887-904.
- Parro V, de Diego-Castilla G, Moreno-Paz M, Blanco Y, Cruz-Gil P, Rodríguez-Manfredi JA, Fernández-Remolar D, Gómez F, Gómez MJ, Rivas LA, Demergasso C, Echeverría A, Urtuvia VN, Ruiz Bermejo M, García-Villadangos M, Postigo M, Sánchez-Román M, Chong-Díaz G, Gómez- Elvira J. (2011). A microbial oasis in the hypersaline Atacama subsurface discovered by a life detector chip: implications for the search for life on Mars. Astrobiology11, 969-996.
-Colín-García M, García-Martinez JL, Negrón-Mendoza A, Ortega Gutiérrez F, Ramos-Bernal S, Sánchez-Román M, Valdivia-Silva JE (2011). Olivine: It’s Role in Chemical Evolution and
in the Origin of Life. Horizons in Earth Science Research 5, 221-244.
- Fernández-Remolar DC, Sánchez-Román M and Amils R (2010). The case of the lacking carbonates and the emergence of Early Life on Mars. Sustainability 2, 2541-2554.
- Rivadeneyra MA, Martín-Algarra A, Sánchez-Román M, Sánchez-Navas A and Martín-Ramos D. (2010).Amorphous Ca-phosphate precursors for Ca-carbonate biominerals mediated by Chromohalobacter marismortui. The ISME Journal (Nature Publishing Group)4, 922-932.
- Sánchez-Román M, McKenzie JA, de Luca Rebelo Wagener A, Rivadeneyra MA and Vasconcelos C (2009). Presence of Sulfate does not Inhibit Low-Temperature Dolomite Precipitation, Earth and Planetary Science Letters 285, 131-139.
- Romanek CS, Jiménez-López C, Rodríguez-Navarro A, Sánchez-Román M, Sahai N and Coleman M. (2009). Inorganic Synthesis of Fe-Ca-Mg carbonates at Low Temperatures. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 73, 5361-5376.
- Sánchez-Román M, Vasconcelos C, Schmidt T, Dittrich M, McKenzie JA, Zenobi R and Rivadeneyra MA (2008) Aerobic microbial dolomite at the nanometer scale: Implications for the geologic record. Geology36, 879-882.
-Sánchez-Román M, Vasconcelos C, Warthmann R, Rivadeneyra MA and McKenzie JA
(2008) Microbial Dolomite Precipitation under Aerobic Conditions: Results from Brejo do
Espinho Lagoon (Brazil) and Culture Experiments. IAS Spec Publ, No. 40, 167- 178.
- Sánchez-Román M, Rivadeneyra MA, Vasconcelos C and McKenzie JA (2007). Carbonate and phosphate precipitation by halophilic bacteria: influence of Ca2+ and Mg2+ ions, FEMS Microbiology Ecology61, 273-284.
Links:
https://research.vu.nl/en/persons/monica-sanchez-roman
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=sleae9oAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=sra
No ancillary activities
Ancillary activities are updated daily
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article › Academic › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article › Academic › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article › Academic › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article › Academic › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article › Academic › peer-review
Sanchez Roman, Monica (Recipient), 2020
Prize / Grant: Prize › Academic