Research Interests

Microbial activities are essential in shaping and controlling virtually all ecosystems including the human- plant- and animal-associated biomes. Through my research I strive to expand our understanding of how microbial community structures, functions, and interactions are affected by habitat characteristics and in turn how their activities impact environmental or host fitness. I use a combination of community molecular analyses, chemical and physical characterizations, and process measurements to explore microbial mechanisms, interactions, and responses with the goal of expanding our predictive capabilities.

Background

2016–present Career Staff Scientist, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

2014–2016     Postdoctoral Research Scientist, Lawrence Livermore National Lab

2013–2014     Mendenhall Postdoctoral Research Fellow, US Geological Survey

2009–2012     NSF Graduate Research Fellow, University of California, Berkeley CA

2007–2009     Graduate Student Researcher, University of California, Berkeley CA

2007              Stanford University, Hopkins Microbiology Course

2004–2007     Research Assistant, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff AZ

2003–2004     Research Assistant, Ecological Restoration Institute, Flagstaff AZ

Barnard RL, Blazewicz SJ, Firestone MK. 2020. Rewetting of soil: revisiting the origin of soil CO2 emissions. In press in Soil Biology and Biochemistry.

Sieradzki ET, Koch BJ, Greenlon A, Sachdeva R, Malmstrom RR, Mau RL, Blazewicz SJ, Firestone MK, Hungate BA, Hofmockel K, Schwartz E, Pett-Ridge J. 2020. Measurement error and resolution in quantitative stable isotope probing: implications for experimental design. In review in mSystems.

Blazewicz SJ, Hungate BA, Koch BJ, Nuccio EE, Morrissey E, Brodie EL, Schwartz E, Pett-Ridge J, Firestone MK. 2020. Taxon-specific microbial growth and mortality patterns reveal distinct temporal population responses to rewetting in a California grassland soil. In press in The ISME Journal.

Morrissey EM, Mau RL, Hayer M, Liu XJA, Schwartz E, Dijkstra P, Koch BJ, Allen K, Blazewicz SJ, Hofmockel K, Pett-Ridge J, Hungate BA, 2019. Evolutionary history constrains microbial traits across environmental variation. Nature Ecology and Evolution. 3:1064-1069.

Li J, Mau RL, Dijkstra P, Koch BJ, Schwartz E, Liu XJA, Morrissey EM, Blazewicz SJ, Pett-Ridge J, Stone BW, Hayer M, Hungate BA. 2019. Predictive genomic traits for bacterial growth in culture versus actual growth in soil. The ISME Journal. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41396-019-0422-z

Engelhardt IC, Blazewicz SJ, Barnard RL. 2019. Effects of contrasting precipitation patterns on the trajectory of actively growing and inactive microbial communities after rewetting. Soil Biology and Biochemistry. 134:172-174.

Starr EP, Shi S, Blazewicz SJ, Probst AJ, Herman DJ, Firestone MK, Banfield JF. 2018. Stable isotope informed genome-resolved metagenomics reveals that Saccharibacteria utilize microbially-processed plant-derived carbon. Microbiome. 6:122.

Jacobsen CS, Nielsen TK, KjølhedeVester, Stougaard P, Nielsen JL, Voriskova J, Winding A, Baldrian P, Liu B, Frostegård, Å, Petersen D, Tveit, A, Svenning MM, Tebbe CC, Øvreås L, Jacobsen PB, Blazewicz SJ, Hubablek V, Bertilsson S, Hansen LH, Gary C, Holben WE, Ekelund F, Bælum J. 2018. Inter-laboratory testing of the effect of DNA blocking reagent G2 on DNA extraction from low-biomass clay subsoil. Scientific Reports. 8: 5711

Engelhardt I, Welty-Bernard A, Blazewicz SJ, Bru D, Rouard N, Breuil MC, Gessler A, Galiano, Miranda JC, Spor A, Barnard RL. 2018. Depth Matters: Effects of Precipitation Regime on Soil Microbial Activity Upon Rewetting of a Plant-Soil System. ISME Journal of Microbial Ecology. 12:1061-1071

Koch BJ, McHugh TA, Hayer M, Schwartz E, Blazewicz SJ, Dijkstra P, van Gestel N, Marks JC, Mau RL, Morrissey EM, Pett-Ridge J, Hungate BA. 2018. Estimating taxon-specific population dynamics in diverse microbial communities. Ecosphere. 9(1):e02090. 10.1002/ecs2.2090

Neumann RB, Blazewicz SJ, Conaway C, McFarland J, Waldrop MP. 2016. Modeling CH4 and CO2 cycling using porewater stable isotopes in a thermokarst bog in interior Alaska: Results from three conceptual reaction networks. Biogeochemistry. 127:57-87.

Hultman J, Waldrop MP, David MM, McFarland J, Mackelprang R, Blazewicz SJ, Harden J, Turetsky M, McGuire AD, Shah MB, VerBermoes NC, Mavrommatis K, Jansson JK. 2015. Microbial Life in Permafrost: Predictions of Microbial Response to Natural Thaw using a Multi-Omics Approach. Nature. 521:208-212.

Blazewicz SJ, Schwartz E, Firestone MK. 2014. Growth and Death of Bacteria and Fungi Underlie Rainfall-Induced Carbon Dioxide Pulses from Seasonally Dried Soil. Ecology. 95:1162-1172.        

Blazewicz SJ, Daly RA, Barnard R, Firestone MK. 2013. Re-evaluating the Use of rRNA from Environmental Samples as an Indicator of Active Microorganisms: Limitations and Applications. ISME Journal of Microbial Ecology. 7:2061-2068.

Carlson HK, Clark IC, Blazewicz SJ, Iavarone AT, Coates JD. 2013. Fe(II) Oxidation is an Innate Capacity of NO3- Reducing Bacteria Involving Abiotic and Biotic Reactions. Journal of Bacteriology. 195:3260-3268.

Adair K, Blazewicz SJ, Hungate BA, Hart SC, Dijkstra P, Schwartz E. 2013. A Positive Relationship Between the Abundance of Ammonia Oxidizing Archaea and Natural Abundance δ15N of Ecosystems. Soil Biology and Biochemistry. 65:313-315.

Blazewicz SJ, Petersen DG, Waldrop MP, Firestone MK. 2012. Anaerobic Oxidation of Methane in Tropical and Boreal Soils: Ecological Significance in Terrestrial Methane Cycling. JGR Biogeosciences. G02033:1-9.

Petersen DG, Blazewicz SJ, Firestone MK, Herman DJ, Turetsky M, Waldrop MP. 2012. Abundance of Microbial Genes Associated with Nitrogen Cycling as Indices of Biogeochemical Process Rates Across a Vegetation Gradient in Alaska. Environmental Microbiology. 14:993-1008.

Mackelprang R, Waldrop MP, DeAngelis KM, David MM, Chavarria KL, Blazewicz SJ, Rubin EM, Jansson JK. 2011. Metagenome Analysis of a Permafrost Microbial Community Reveals a Rapid Response to Thaw. Nature. 480:368-371.

Blazewicz SJ and Schwartz E.  2011.  Dynamics of 18O Incorporation from H218O into Soil Microbial DNA. Microbial Ecology. 61:911-916.

Schwartz E, Blazewicz SJ, Doucett R, Hungate BA, Hart SC, Dijkstra P.  2007.  Natural abundance d15N and d13C of DNA extracted from soil.  Soil Biology and Biochemistry.  39:3101-3107.

2013–2015     Mendenhall Postdoctoral Fellowship, USGS

  2012              Professor Earl Storie Memorial Scholarship, UC Berkeley

  2009–2012     National Science Foundation – Graduate Research Fellowship, UC Berkeley

  2009              Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor award, Microbial Ecology Course, UC Berkeley

  2008              DOE Graduate Research Environmental Fellowship, Honorable mention

  2006              Outstanding Senior Award from the College of Engineering & Natural Sciences, NAU

  2006              Scott Savage Award for Excellence in Chemistry, Northern Arizona University

  2006              Student of the Year for Physical Chemistry, Northern Arizona University

  2006              Top poster, NAU Annual Celebration of Undergraduate Research and Design

  2006              Scott Savage Scholarship, NAU

  2005–2006     Arizona Power Authority Scholarship, NAU

  2005–2006     Virgil and Clarine Gillenwater Scholarship, NAU

  2004–2005     NAU Academic Excellence Scholarship