Carrine Blank
 Phone: (406) 241-2038 Office: CHCB 109a Email: carrine.blank@umontana.edu Curriculum Vitae |
Education
PhD 2002; University of California, Berkeley; Integrative Biology
BSc 1992; University of Washington, Seattle; Microbiology and Immunology
BSc 1992; University of Washington, Seattle; Cell and Molecular Biology
Teaching Experience
At University of Montana:
Intro to Physical Geology: Spring 2012, Winter 2012, Fall 2011, Winter 2010, Fall 2010
At Washington University:
Controversies in Astrobiology: Fall 2006, Spring 2005, Spring 2003
Intro to Astrobiology: Spring 2006, Spring 2004
Microbes in the Environment: Fall 2005
Geomicrobiology: Fall 2003
Topics in the Geosciences - History of Science: Spring 2006
Topics in the Geosciences - Microbial Evolution: Spring 2005
Seminar in Population Biology - Tree of Life: Spring 2005
Research Interests
Green technology research involving Cyanobacteria and microalgae for renewable chemical manufacturing and wastewater treatment, in partnership with local Montana biotech companies.
Reconstructing the co-evolution of early Earth and early life using phylogenomic dating.
Evolution of habitat and physiological traits in the Cyanobacteria, Archaea, and thermophilic bacteria.
MIcrobial phylogenetics and evolution; identifying core phylogenies and lateral gene transfer of metabolic genes.
Selected Publications
Blank CE. 2012. Low rates of lateral gene transfer among metabolic genes define the evolving biogeochemical niches of archaea through deep time. Archaea doi:10.1155/2012/843539.
Blank CE and Sánchez-Baracaldo P. 2010. Timing of morphological and ecological innovations in the Cyanobacteria – A key to understanding the rise in atmospheric oxygen. Geobiology, 8(1), 1-23.
Blank, CE. 2009. Not so old Archaea – The antiquity of biogeochemical processes in the archaeal domain of life. Geobiology, 7(5), 495-514.
Blank CE. 2009. Phylogenomic dating - A method of constraining the age of microbial taxa that lack a conventional fossil record. Astrobiology, 9(2):173-192.
Blank CE. 2009. Phylogenomic dating – The relative antiquity of archaeal metabolic and physiological traits. Astrobiology, 9(2):192-220.
Blank CE. 2008. Phylogenomic dating and the relative ancestry of prokaryotic metabolisms. In: "From Fossils to Astrobiology", edited by M. Walsh and J. Seckbach, Springer-Verlag.
Tenesch AC, Dietrich A, Cady SL, Blank CE, and Hinman NW. 2008. Silica deposition on cells in environmentally defined experimental solutions. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 72(12):A940.
Sánchez-Baracaldo P, Hayes PK, and Blank CE. 2005. Morphological and habitat evolution in the Cyanobacteria using a compartmentalization approach. Geobiology, 3(3):145-165.
Blank CE. 2004. Evolutionary timing of the origins of mesophilic sulfate reduction and oxygenic photosynthesis: A phylogenomic dating approach. Geobiology, 2(1):1-20.
Blank CE, Cady SL, and Pace NR. 2002. Microbial composition of silica-depositing thermal springs throughout Yellowstone National Park. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 68(10):5123-5135.
Leigh JA, Kessler PS, and Blank CE. 1998. Regulation of nif gene transcription in Methanococcus maripaludis, In: “Biological Nitrogen Fixation for the 21st Century”, C. Elmerich, A. Kondorosi, and W. E. Newton, eds., pp. 115-116.
Kessler PS, Blank CE, and Leigh JA. 1998. The nif gene operon of the methanogenic archaeon Methanococcus maripaludis. Journal of Bacteriology, 180(6):1504-1511.
Cohen-Kupiec R, Blank CE, and Leigh JA. 1997. Transcriptional regulation in Archaea: In vivo demonstration of a repressor binding site in a methanogen. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 94:1316-1320.
Cattolico RA, Hariharan T, Johnson P, Blank C, and Kurtz H. 1996. Evolutionary variations in phosphoribulokinase among autotrophic organisms. Journal of Phycology, 32(3):SUPPL. 10.
Blank CE, Kessler PS, and Leigh JA. 1995. Genetics in methanogens: transposon insertion mutagenesis of a Methanococcus maripaludis nifH gene. Journal of Bacteriology, 177:5773-7.
Publications
Huntress WT, Noonan NE, Atreya SK, Blank CE, et al., 2007. Grading NASA’s Solar System Exploration Program; A Midterm Review. National Research Council Committee on Assessing NASA’s Solar System Exploration Program.
Specialized Skills
Patents:
Production of Cyanobacterial or Algal Biomass Using Chitin as a Nitrogen Source. Serial No. 12/396,309; Filed 3/26/12. Submitted as International Patent Application No. PCT/US12/30620; Filed 3/26/12. Submitted as Provisional Patent Photosynthetic Degradation of Chitin Using Cyanobacteria or Algae for Biomass or Biofuel Production. Serial No. 61/467,869; FIled 3/25/11.
Professional Experience
2007-present Research Assistant Professor, University of Montana, Geosciences Dept.
2010-2012 Adjunct Assistant Professor; University of Montana, Geosciences Dept.
2002-2007 Assistant Professor, Washington University, Dept. Earth and Planetary Sciences
