Paula V. Welander Explained

Paula Welander
Alma Mater:University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Thesis Title:Analysis of Methylotrophic Methanogenesis in Methanosarcina Barkeri Fusaro
Thesis Url:https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/931603027
Thesis Year:2007
Children:2

Paula Veronica Welander is a microbiologist and professor at Stanford University[1] who is known for her research using lipid biomarkers to investigate how life evolved on Earth.

Early life and career

Welander was born and raised in the San Fernando Valley. Her mother and father immigrated from Mexico to Los Angeles in the early 1970’s.[2] She received her undergraduate degree from Occidental College in Los Angeles in 1998.[3] She has a master's degree (2003) and a Ph.D. (2007) from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She went on to do postdoctoral studies at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the Departments of Biology and of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences.[4] Welander began her position at Stanford University in 2013, and was awarded tenure in 2019.

Research

Welander's graduate research examined factors controlling the use of methane by a group of Archaea.[5] For her postdoctoral research, she examined the production of a group of chemical compounds known as hopanoids.[6] [7] Welander has examined lipids in acid-loving archaea and how changes in the lipids alter a cell's ability to grow.[8] [9] Her research has further expanded our understanding of the organisms that produce triterpenoid lipids in aquatic environments.[10] Her more recent research centers on lipids, known as glycerol dibiphytanyl glycerol tetraethers (GDGTs), that are found in archaeal cell walls.[11] [12] Collectively, her research on lipids can be used to characterize how microbial life on Earth has changed over time.[13]

Honors and awards

In 2018, Welander received the Geobiology and Geomicrobiology Division Award for Outstanding Research from the Geological Society of America.[14] She also received a CAREER award from the National Science Foundation.

Selected publications

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Paula V. Welander . 2023-08-07 . scholar.google.com.
  2. Web site: 2020-09-22 . Q&A: What does it mean to be Latinx in the geosciences? . 2022-08-26 . Stanford Earth . en.
  3. Web site: Paula V. Welander's Profile Stanford Profiles . 2022-08-26 . profiles.stanford.edu . en.
  4. Web site: Dr. Paula Welander - Geobiology & Geomicrobiology Division . 2022-08-26 . community.geosociety.org.
  5. Welander . Paula V. . Metcalf . William W. . 2005-07-26 . Loss of the mtr operon in Methanosarcina blocks growth on methanol, but not methanogenesis, and reveals an unknown methanogenic pathway . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . en . 102 . 30 . 10664–10669 . 10.1073/pnas.0502623102 . 0027-8424 . 1180775 . 16024727. 2005PNAS..10210664W . free .
  6. Welander . Paula V. . Hunter . Ryan C. . Zhang . Lichun . Sessions . Alex L. . Summons . Roger E. . Newman . Dianne K. . 2009 . Hopanoids Play a Role in Membrane Integrity and pH Homeostasis in Rhodopseudomonas palustris TIE-1 . Journal of Bacteriology . en . 191 . 19 . 6145–6156 . 10.1128/JB.00460-09 . 0021-9193 . 2747905 . 19592593.
  7. Welander . Paula V. . Coleman . Maureen L. . Sessions . Alex L. . Summons . Roger E. . Newman . Dianne K. . 2010-05-11 . Identification of a methylase required for 2-methylhopanoid production and implications for the interpretation of sedimentary hopanes . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . en . 107 . 19 . 8537–8542 . 10.1073/pnas.0912949107 . 0027-8424 . 2889317 . 20421508. 2010PNAS..107.8537W . free .
  8. Zeng . Zhirui . Liu . Xiao-Lei . Wei . Jeremy H. . Summons . Roger E. . Welander . Paula V. . 2018-12-18 . Calditol-linked membrane lipids are required for acid tolerance in Sulfolobus acidocaldarius . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . en . 115 . 51 . 12932–12937 . 10.1073/pnas.1814048115 . 0027-8424 . 6305003 . 30518563. 2018PNAS..11512932Z . free .
  9. News: Hadhazy . Adam . March 2019 . Invulnerability Cloak . 127 . 8 . Natural History; New York . 3 . ProQuest.
  10. Banta . Amy B. . Wei . Jeremy H. . Gill . Clare C. C. . Giner . José-Luis . Welander . Paula V. . 2017-01-10 . Synthesis of arborane triterpenols by a bacterial oxidosqualene cyclase . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . en . 114 . 2 . 245–250 . 10.1073/pnas.1617231114 . 0027-8424 . 5240688 . 28028245. 2017PNAS..114..245B . free .
  11. Zeng . Zhirui . Chen . Huahui . Yang . Huan . Chen . Yufei . Yang . Wei . Feng . Xi . Pei . Hongye . Welander . Paula V. . 2022-03-22 . Identification of a protein responsible for the synthesis of archaeal membrane-spanning GDGT lipids . Nature Communications . en . 13 . 1 . 1545 . 10.1038/s41467-022-29264-x . 35318330 . 8941075 . 2022NatCo..13.1545Z . 2041-1723.
  12. Zeng . Zhirui . Liu . Xiao-Lei . Farley . Kristen R. . Wei . Jeremy H. . Metcalf . William W. . Summons . Roger E. . Welander . Paula V. . 2019-11-05 . GDGT cyclization proteins identify the dominant archaeal sources of tetraether lipids in the ocean . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . en . 116 . 45 . 22505–22511 . 10.1073/pnas.1909306116 . 0027-8424 . 6842593 . 31591189. 2019PNAS..11622505Z . free .
  13. Summons . Roger E. . Welander . Paula V. . Gold . David A. . 2022 . Lipid biomarkers: molecular tools for illuminating the history of microbial life . Nature Reviews Microbiology . en . 20 . 3 . 174–185 . 10.1038/s41579-021-00636-2 . 34635851 . 238637754 . 1740-1526.
  14. Web site: Excellence Awards - Geobiology & Geomicrobiology Division . 2022-08-26 . community.geosociety.org.

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