I am scientist Emeritus with the Environmental Hydrodynamics Branch of the Earth Systems Process Division of the USGS Water Resources Mission Area.
Our mission is to understand the processes that affect availability, movement, and quality of the Nation’s water resources. I’m currently engaged in studies of the fate of chromium in contaminated groundwater, the ecology and geochemistry of Mono Lake, CA, and the role of bacteria in transforming hydrocarbons in the subsurface.
Professional Studies/Experience
- May 1984 to Present: Research Oceanographer, National Research Program, U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, CA
- Sept. 1981 to May 1984: Oceanographer III, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
- Jan. 1977 to Sept. 1981: Research and Teaching Assistant, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
- April 1973 to Dec. 1976: Research Technician, Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, Palisades, NY
Education and Certifications
Education
1972 B.A., Marine Science, Southampton College, Long Island University
1980 M.S., Geological Science, University of Southern California
Science and Products
A Two-Year Water-Column Time Series of Geochemical Data During a Limnological Shift in Mono Lake, California, 2017-2018
Mono Lake is a hypersaline (approximately 85 ppt), alkaline (pH 9.8), closed-basin lake located in the eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains of California, USA (38 degrees N, 119 degrees W). Water enters the lake primarily from snowmelt and exits by evaporation (approximately 1 m/yr). This hydrological condition, plus weathering reactions in the lake's tributaries, produce the uniquely high salinity and
Aqueous and Solid Phase Chemistry of Sequestration and Re-oxidation of Chromium in Experimental Microcosms with Sand and Sediment from Hinkley, CA
Cr(VI) contaminated groundwater at Hinkley is undergoing bioremediation using added ethanol as a reductant in a volume of the aquifer defined as the In-situ Reduction Zone (IRZ). This treatment effectively reduces Cr(VI) to Cr(III) which is rapidly sequestered by sorption to aquifer particle surfaces and by co-precipitation within iron or manganese bearing minerals forming in place as reduction pr
Growth of cultured Picocystis strain ML in the presence of arsenic, and occurrence of arsenolipids in these Picocystis as well as biota and sediment from Mono Lake, California
Mono Lake is a hypersaline soda lake rich in dissolved inorganic arsenic with its primary production currently dominated by Picocystis str. ML. We set out to determine if this picoplankter could metabolize inorganic arsenic, and in doing so form unusual arsenolipids (e.g., methylated arsinoyl ribosides) as reported in other saline ecosystems and by halophilic algae. We cultivated Picocystis str. M
Filter Total Items: 55
Natural and anthropogenic hexavalent chromium, Cr(VI), in groundwater near a mapped plume, Hinkley, California
The Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) Hinkley compressor station, in the Mojave Desert, 80 miles northeast of Los Angeles, California, is used to compress natural gas as it is transported through a pipeline from Texas to California. Between 1952 and 1964, cooling water was treated with a compound containing hexavalent chromium, Cr(VI), to prevent corrosion of machinery within the compressor
Authors
John A. Izbicki, Krishangi D. Groover, Whitney A. Seymour, David M. Miller, John G. Warden, Laurence G. Miller
Sequestration and reoxidation of chromium in experimental microcosms
Groundwater containing hexavalent chromium, Cr(VI), downgradient from the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) Hinkley compressor station in the Mojave Desert, 80 miles northeast of Los Angeles, California, is undergoing bioremediation using added ethanol as a reductant in a volume of the aquifer defined as the in situ reactive zone (IRZ). This treatment reduces Cr(VI) to trivalent chromium, Cr
Authors
Laurence G. Miller, Callum E. Bobb, Andrea L. Foster, Emily G. Wright, Stacy C. Bennett, Krishangi D. Groover, John A. Izbicki
Arsenolipids in cultured Picocystis strain ML, and their occurrence in biota and sediment from Mono Lake, California
Primary production in Mono Lake, a hypersaline soda lake rich in dissolved inorganic arsenic, is dominated by Picocystis strain ML. We set out to determine if this photoautotrophic picoplankter could metabolize inorganic arsenic and in doing so form unusual arsenolipids (e.g., arsenic bound to 2-O-methyl ribosides) as reported in other saline ecosystems and by halophilic algae. We cultivated Picoc
Authors
Ronald A. Glabonjat, Jodi S. Blum, Laurence G. Miller, Samuel M. Webb, John F. Stolz, Kevin A. Francesconi, Ronald S. Oremland
Metabolic capability and phylogenetic diversity of Mono Lake during a bloom of the eukaryotic phototroph Picocystis sp. strain ML
Algal blooms in lakes are often associated with anthropogenic eutrophication; however, they can occur without the human introduction of nutrients to a lake. A rare bloom of the alga Picocystis sp. strain ML occurred in the spring of 2016 at Mono Lake, a hyperalkaline lake in California, which was also at the apex of a multiyear-long drought. These conditions presented a unique sampling opportunity
Authors
Blake W. Stamps, Heather S Nunn, Victoria Petryshyn, Ronald S. Oremland, Laurence G. Miller, Michael R. Rosen, Kohen Bauer, Katherine J. Thompson, Elise M. Tookmanian, Anna R. Waldeck, Sean J Lloyd, Hope A Johnson, Bradley S. Stevenson, William M Berelson, Frank A Corsetti, John R. Spear
Acetylenotrophy: A hidden but ubiquitous microbial metabolism?
Acetylene (IUPAC name: ethyne) is a colorless, gaseous hydrocarbon, composed of two triple bonded carbon atoms attached to hydrogens (C2H2). When microbiologists and biogeochemists think of acetylene, they immediately think of its use as an inhibitory compound of certain microbial processes and a tracer for nitrogen fixation. However, what is less widely known is that anaerobic and aerobic microor
Authors
Denise M. Akob, John M. Sutton, Janna L. Fierst, Karl B. Haase, Shaun Baesman, George Luther, Laurence G. Miller, Ronald S. Oremland
Methane fluxes from tropical coastal lagoons surrounded bymangroves, Yucatán, Mexico
Methane concentrations in the water column and emissions to the atmosphere were determined for three tropical coastal lagoons surrounded by mangrove forests on the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico. Surface water dissolved methane was sampled at different seasons over a period of 2 years in areas representing a wide range of salinities and anthropogenic impacts. The highest surface water methane concentra
Authors
Pei-Chuan Chuang, Megan B. Young, Andrew W. Dale, Laurence G. Miller, Jorge A Herrera-Silveira, Adina Paytan
Genome sequence of the photoarsenotrophic bacterium Ectothiorhodospira sp. strain BSL-9, isolated from a hypersaline alkaline arsenic-rich extreme environment
The full genome sequence of Ectothiorhodospira sp. strain BSL-9 is reported here. This purple sulfur bacterium encodes an arxA-type arsenite oxidase within the arxB2AB1CD gene island and is capable of carrying out “photoarsenotrophy” anoxygenic photosynthetic arsenite oxidation. Its genome is composed of 3.5 Mb and has approximately 63% G+C content.
Authors
Jaime Hernandez-Maldonado, Brendon Stoneburner, Alison Boren, Laurence Miller, Michael R. Rosen, Ronald S. Oremland, Chad W Saltikov
The genetic basis of anoxygenic photosynthetic arsenite oxidation
“Photoarsenotrophy”, the use of arsenite as an electron donor for anoxygenic photosynthesis, is thought to be an ancient form of phototrophy along with the photosynthetic oxidation of Fe(II), H2S, H2, and NO2-. Photoarsenotrophy was recently identified from Paoha Island's (Mono Lake, CA) arsenic-rich hot springs. The genomes of several photoarsenotrophs revealed a gene cluster, arxB2AB1CD, where a
Authors
Jamie Hernandez-Maldonado, Benjamin Sanchez-Sedillo, Brendon Stoneburner, Alison Boren, Laurence G. Miller, Shelley McCann, Michael R. Rosen, Ronald S. Oremland, Chad W. Saltikov
Methane and sulfate dynamics in sediments from mangrove-dominated tropical coastal lagoons, Yucatan, Mexico
Porewater profiles in sediment cores from mangrove-dominated coastal lagoons (Celestún and Chelem) on the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico, reveal the widespread coexistence of dissolved methane and sulfate. This observation is interesting since dissolved methane in porewaters is typically oxidized anaerobically by sulfate. To explain the observations we used a numerical transport-reaction model that was
Authors
P. C. Chuang, Megan B. Young, Andrew W. Dale, Laurence G. Miller, Jorge A. Herrera-Silveira, Adina Paytan
Stable carbon isotope fractionation during bacterial acetylene fermentation: Potential for life detection in hydrocarbon-rich volatiles of icy planet(oid)s
We report the first study of stable carbon isotope fractionation during microbial fermentation of acetylene (C2H2) in sediments, sediment enrichments, and bacterial cultures. Kinetic isotope effects (KIEs) averaged 3.7 ± 0.5‰ for slurries prepared with sediment collected at an intertidal mudflat in San Francisco Bay and 2.7 ± 0.2‰ for a pure culture of Pelobacter sp. isolated from these sediments.
Authors
Laurence Miller, Shaun Baesman, Ron Oremland
Microbiological oxidation of antimony(III) with oxygen or nitrate by bacteria isolated from contaminated mine sediments
Bacterial oxidation of arsenite [As(III)] is a well-studied and important biogeochemical pathway that directly influences the mobility and toxicity of arsenic in the environment. In contrast, little is known about microbiological oxidation of the chemically similar anion antimonite [Sb(III)]. In this study, two bacterial strains, designated IDSBO-1 and IDSBO-4, which grow on tartrate compounds and
Authors
Lee R. Terry, Thomas R. Kulp, Heather A. Wiatrowski, Laurence G. Miller, Ronald S. Oremland
A microbial arsenic cycle in sediments of an acidic mine impoundment: Herman Pit, Clear Lake, California
The involvement of prokaryotes in the redox reactions of arsenic occurring between its +5 [arsenate; As(V)] and +3 [arsenite; As(III)] oxidation states has been well established. Most research to date has focused upon circum-neutral pH environments (e.g., freshwater or estuarine sediments) or arsenic-rich “extreme” environments like hot springs and soda lakes. In contrast, relatively little work h
Authors
Jodi S. Blum, Shelley McCann, S. Bennett, Laurence G. Miller, J. R. Stolz, B. Stoneburner, C. Saltikov, Ronald S. Oremland
Science and Products
- Data
A Two-Year Water-Column Time Series of Geochemical Data During a Limnological Shift in Mono Lake, California, 2017-2018
Mono Lake is a hypersaline (approximately 85 ppt), alkaline (pH 9.8), closed-basin lake located in the eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains of California, USA (38 degrees N, 119 degrees W). Water enters the lake primarily from snowmelt and exits by evaporation (approximately 1 m/yr). This hydrological condition, plus weathering reactions in the lake's tributaries, produce the uniquely high salinity andAqueous and Solid Phase Chemistry of Sequestration and Re-oxidation of Chromium in Experimental Microcosms with Sand and Sediment from Hinkley, CA
Cr(VI) contaminated groundwater at Hinkley is undergoing bioremediation using added ethanol as a reductant in a volume of the aquifer defined as the In-situ Reduction Zone (IRZ). This treatment effectively reduces Cr(VI) to Cr(III) which is rapidly sequestered by sorption to aquifer particle surfaces and by co-precipitation within iron or manganese bearing minerals forming in place as reduction prGrowth of cultured Picocystis strain ML in the presence of arsenic, and occurrence of arsenolipids in these Picocystis as well as biota and sediment from Mono Lake, California
Mono Lake is a hypersaline soda lake rich in dissolved inorganic arsenic with its primary production currently dominated by Picocystis str. ML. We set out to determine if this picoplankter could metabolize inorganic arsenic, and in doing so form unusual arsenolipids (e.g., methylated arsinoyl ribosides) as reported in other saline ecosystems and by halophilic algae. We cultivated Picocystis str. M - Publications
Filter Total Items: 55
Natural and anthropogenic hexavalent chromium, Cr(VI), in groundwater near a mapped plume, Hinkley, California
The Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) Hinkley compressor station, in the Mojave Desert, 80 miles northeast of Los Angeles, California, is used to compress natural gas as it is transported through a pipeline from Texas to California. Between 1952 and 1964, cooling water was treated with a compound containing hexavalent chromium, Cr(VI), to prevent corrosion of machinery within the compressorAuthorsJohn A. Izbicki, Krishangi D. Groover, Whitney A. Seymour, David M. Miller, John G. Warden, Laurence G. MillerSequestration and reoxidation of chromium in experimental microcosms
Groundwater containing hexavalent chromium, Cr(VI), downgradient from the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) Hinkley compressor station in the Mojave Desert, 80 miles northeast of Los Angeles, California, is undergoing bioremediation using added ethanol as a reductant in a volume of the aquifer defined as the in situ reactive zone (IRZ). This treatment reduces Cr(VI) to trivalent chromium, CrAuthorsLaurence G. Miller, Callum E. Bobb, Andrea L. Foster, Emily G. Wright, Stacy C. Bennett, Krishangi D. Groover, John A. IzbickiArsenolipids in cultured Picocystis strain ML, and their occurrence in biota and sediment from Mono Lake, California
Primary production in Mono Lake, a hypersaline soda lake rich in dissolved inorganic arsenic, is dominated by Picocystis strain ML. We set out to determine if this photoautotrophic picoplankter could metabolize inorganic arsenic and in doing so form unusual arsenolipids (e.g., arsenic bound to 2-O-methyl ribosides) as reported in other saline ecosystems and by halophilic algae. We cultivated PicocAuthorsRonald A. Glabonjat, Jodi S. Blum, Laurence G. Miller, Samuel M. Webb, John F. Stolz, Kevin A. Francesconi, Ronald S. OremlandMetabolic capability and phylogenetic diversity of Mono Lake during a bloom of the eukaryotic phototroph Picocystis sp. strain ML
Algal blooms in lakes are often associated with anthropogenic eutrophication; however, they can occur without the human introduction of nutrients to a lake. A rare bloom of the alga Picocystis sp. strain ML occurred in the spring of 2016 at Mono Lake, a hyperalkaline lake in California, which was also at the apex of a multiyear-long drought. These conditions presented a unique sampling opportunityAuthorsBlake W. Stamps, Heather S Nunn, Victoria Petryshyn, Ronald S. Oremland, Laurence G. Miller, Michael R. Rosen, Kohen Bauer, Katherine J. Thompson, Elise M. Tookmanian, Anna R. Waldeck, Sean J Lloyd, Hope A Johnson, Bradley S. Stevenson, William M Berelson, Frank A Corsetti, John R. SpearAcetylenotrophy: A hidden but ubiquitous microbial metabolism?
Acetylene (IUPAC name: ethyne) is a colorless, gaseous hydrocarbon, composed of two triple bonded carbon atoms attached to hydrogens (C2H2). When microbiologists and biogeochemists think of acetylene, they immediately think of its use as an inhibitory compound of certain microbial processes and a tracer for nitrogen fixation. However, what is less widely known is that anaerobic and aerobic microorAuthorsDenise M. Akob, John M. Sutton, Janna L. Fierst, Karl B. Haase, Shaun Baesman, George Luther, Laurence G. Miller, Ronald S. OremlandMethane fluxes from tropical coastal lagoons surrounded bymangroves, Yucatán, Mexico
Methane concentrations in the water column and emissions to the atmosphere were determined for three tropical coastal lagoons surrounded by mangrove forests on the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico. Surface water dissolved methane was sampled at different seasons over a period of 2 years in areas representing a wide range of salinities and anthropogenic impacts. The highest surface water methane concentraAuthorsPei-Chuan Chuang, Megan B. Young, Andrew W. Dale, Laurence G. Miller, Jorge A Herrera-Silveira, Adina PaytanGenome sequence of the photoarsenotrophic bacterium Ectothiorhodospira sp. strain BSL-9, isolated from a hypersaline alkaline arsenic-rich extreme environment
The full genome sequence of Ectothiorhodospira sp. strain BSL-9 is reported here. This purple sulfur bacterium encodes an arxA-type arsenite oxidase within the arxB2AB1CD gene island and is capable of carrying out “photoarsenotrophy” anoxygenic photosynthetic arsenite oxidation. Its genome is composed of 3.5 Mb and has approximately 63% G+C content.AuthorsJaime Hernandez-Maldonado, Brendon Stoneburner, Alison Boren, Laurence Miller, Michael R. Rosen, Ronald S. Oremland, Chad W SaltikovThe genetic basis of anoxygenic photosynthetic arsenite oxidation
“Photoarsenotrophy”, the use of arsenite as an electron donor for anoxygenic photosynthesis, is thought to be an ancient form of phototrophy along with the photosynthetic oxidation of Fe(II), H2S, H2, and NO2-. Photoarsenotrophy was recently identified from Paoha Island's (Mono Lake, CA) arsenic-rich hot springs. The genomes of several photoarsenotrophs revealed a gene cluster, arxB2AB1CD, where aAuthorsJamie Hernandez-Maldonado, Benjamin Sanchez-Sedillo, Brendon Stoneburner, Alison Boren, Laurence G. Miller, Shelley McCann, Michael R. Rosen, Ronald S. Oremland, Chad W. SaltikovMethane and sulfate dynamics in sediments from mangrove-dominated tropical coastal lagoons, Yucatan, Mexico
Porewater profiles in sediment cores from mangrove-dominated coastal lagoons (Celestún and Chelem) on the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico, reveal the widespread coexistence of dissolved methane and sulfate. This observation is interesting since dissolved methane in porewaters is typically oxidized anaerobically by sulfate. To explain the observations we used a numerical transport-reaction model that wasAuthorsP. C. Chuang, Megan B. Young, Andrew W. Dale, Laurence G. Miller, Jorge A. Herrera-Silveira, Adina PaytanStable carbon isotope fractionation during bacterial acetylene fermentation: Potential for life detection in hydrocarbon-rich volatiles of icy planet(oid)s
We report the first study of stable carbon isotope fractionation during microbial fermentation of acetylene (C2H2) in sediments, sediment enrichments, and bacterial cultures. Kinetic isotope effects (KIEs) averaged 3.7 ± 0.5‰ for slurries prepared with sediment collected at an intertidal mudflat in San Francisco Bay and 2.7 ± 0.2‰ for a pure culture of Pelobacter sp. isolated from these sediments.AuthorsLaurence Miller, Shaun Baesman, Ron OremlandMicrobiological oxidation of antimony(III) with oxygen or nitrate by bacteria isolated from contaminated mine sediments
Bacterial oxidation of arsenite [As(III)] is a well-studied and important biogeochemical pathway that directly influences the mobility and toxicity of arsenic in the environment. In contrast, little is known about microbiological oxidation of the chemically similar anion antimonite [Sb(III)]. In this study, two bacterial strains, designated IDSBO-1 and IDSBO-4, which grow on tartrate compounds andAuthorsLee R. Terry, Thomas R. Kulp, Heather A. Wiatrowski, Laurence G. Miller, Ronald S. OremlandA microbial arsenic cycle in sediments of an acidic mine impoundment: Herman Pit, Clear Lake, California
The involvement of prokaryotes in the redox reactions of arsenic occurring between its +5 [arsenate; As(V)] and +3 [arsenite; As(III)] oxidation states has been well established. Most research to date has focused upon circum-neutral pH environments (e.g., freshwater or estuarine sediments) or arsenic-rich “extreme” environments like hot springs and soda lakes. In contrast, relatively little work hAuthorsJodi S. Blum, Shelley McCann, S. Bennett, Laurence G. Miller, J. R. Stolz, B. Stoneburner, C. Saltikov, Ronald S. Oremland