Roy E. Price
Environmental Microbiologist
royprice@usc.edu, 314-660-5141
Campus Address:
University of Southern California
Department of Earth Sciences
Zumberge Hall of Sciences (ZHS)
3651 Trousdale Parkway
Los Angeles, CA 90089-0740
e-mail: royprice@usc.edu
Office ACB 303
Office phone: 213-821-2268
Dept. Phone 213-740-5774
Dept. Fax 213-740-8801
Research website: http://dornsife.usc.edu/royprice-research/
Current Positions
Since Feb 2010: Postdoctoral Research Associate, Environmental Microbiology,
University of Southern California Dept. of Earth Sciences and Dept. of Marine Env. Sci. (Feb
through Aug 2010 at Washington University, St. Louis). Advisor: Jan Amend
Since May 2012: NASA Lewis and Clark Fund for Exploration and Field Research Fellow.
Education
• 2008: Ph.D., Biogeochemistry. University of South Florida, Tampa, FL
• 2003: Master of Science, Hydrogeochemistry. University of South Florida, Tampa, FL
• 1999: Bachelor of Science, Geology, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR.
Work Experience
• May 2008 to Feb 2010:
• Spring 2008:
• 2003-2008:
• 2001-2003:
Postdoctoral Fellow, MARUM Center for Marine Environmental
Sciences, University of Bremen, Germany
Independently funded fellowship to investigate Geochemical and
Microbiological interactions in marine shallow-water hydrothermal
vent systems.
Lecturer, Introduction to Geology, USF, Tampa.
USF Center for Water Analysis: Advanced training, day-to-day operation
and maintenance on Perkin Elmer ICP-OES, Dionex IC, and
PSAnalytical AFS.
Teaching Assistant: Essentials of Geology, The Earth’s Surface
(Geomorphology), and The Fluid Earth (Hydrogeology); University of
South Florida, Tampa
Notable Grants, Awards and Scholarships
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2012. Center for Deep Energy Biosphere Interactions (C-DEBI) research grant “A Lost City-type
hydrothermal system in readily accessible, shallow water”. $49,469. Written by Price as Co-I,
supported by J. Amend as PI.
2012. NASA Lewis and Clark Fund for Exploration and Field Research in Astrobiology funded
proposal as PI: “Expanding frontiers for origin of life research: Serpentinite-hosted shallow-sea
hydrothermal vents. $5000.
2011. DFG funded proposal as collaborator. “Microbial carbon fixation and microbial
metabolism in shallow-sea systems” ~€4,500,000 over 5 years to S. Buehring, MARUM Center
for Marine Environmental Sciences.
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2008. DFG funded proposal as PI. “Carbon fixation pathways and microbial metabolism based on
arsenic in the marine shallow-water hydrothermal system of Palaeochori Bay, Milos Island,
Greece” € 21,500.
2006. Southwest Florida Water Management District Research Grant to investigate the link
between arsenic speciation and DOM in Florida Keys carbonate reef sediments. $4000
2006. Tharp Endowed Research Scholarship for Academic Achievement, USF. $1500.
2005. Richard A. Davis Endowed Scholarship: Outstanding Ph.D. Student, USF $1000
2003. Geological Society of America Alexander Sisson Award for research in Alaska and the
Caribbean. “Shallow-sea hydrothermal vents off the coast of the Aleutian Islands”. $3200.
Distinguished Achievements and Community Interactions
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August 2012: Participant in the USC Center for Excellence in Research workshop “Leadership
and Managing a Scientific Laboratory”
Goldschmidt 2011 Session Convener: “Geochemical and microbiological research in both
shallow and deep-sea hydrothermal environments” Session chaired by Roy Price & Paul
Craddock.
CDEBI RCN meeting participant: Microbiology in marine sediments. March 6-9, 2011.
University of North Carolina.
Invited Participant: DFG International Workshop: Research in Shallow Marine and Fresh Water
Systems. May 14th – 16th, 2009. Freiberg, Germany
R/V Melville cruise participant, eastern Manus Basin, Papua New Guinea (2006 MGLN06, M.
Tivey) to investigate As, Se, and Sb abundance and speciation in hydrothermal fluids and
precipitates from the PACManus back-arc hydrothermal system.
April 2004. Invited Participant: DFG 1st German - American Workshop on Biogeochemical
Gradients: Microbes, Methods, and Measurements. University of Tübingen, Germany.
May 2003. National Science Foundation Workshop on Biocomplexity in Shallow-water
Hydrothermal Systems. Tampa, Florida.
2002. American Water Resources Association Florida Section Presidents Award: Member of the
Year (1st and only Student recipient to date).
Collaborations
University of Southern California:
Jan Amend, current Post-doc advisor
Ken Nealson, Yuri Gorby, Katrina Edwards
University of Bremen, MARUM, and Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology:
Thomas Pichler, Ph.D. advisor
Ben Brunner, Solveig Buehring, and Wolfgang Bach
Chad Saltikov – University of California, Santa Cruz
Matt Schrenk - Eastern Carolina University,
Roger Summons - MIT
Everett Shock – Arizona State University
Tori Hoeler - NASA, Li-hung Lin - National Taiwan University
William Gilhooley and Gregory Druschel - IUPUI
David Fike - WUStL
D’Arcy Meyer-Dombard – University of Illinois, Chicago
Dirk Wallschlaeger - Trent University, Canada
Ivan Savov - University of Leeds, UK
List of Publications (excluding >40 conference abstracts)
Peer-reviewed (published, accepted, or submitted)
Price, R.E., LaRowe, D.; Huang, C-I.; Meyerdierks, A.; Amann, R.; Bach, W.; Italiano, F.; and Amend,
J.P. (submitted). Geochemistry and bioenergetics of the shallow-sea hydrothermal vent system off
Panarea Island, Italy. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta.
Price, R.E.; Savov, I.; Planer-Friedrich, B.; Bühring, S.; Amend, J.; and Pichler, T.; (2012). Processes
influencing extreme As enrichment in shallow-sea hydrothermal fluids of Milos Island, Greece.
Special Issue: Geothermal Arsenic in Chemical Geology
Price, R.E.; London, J.; Wallschläger, D.; Ruiz-Chancho, M.J.; and Pichler, T.; (2012). Enhanced
bioaccumulation and biotransformation of As in coral reef organisms surrounding a marine shallowwater hydrothermal vent system. Special Issue: Geothermal Arsenic in Chemical Geology.
Ruiz-Chancho, M.J.; Pichler, T.; and Price, R.E.; (2012). Arsenic occurrence and speciation in Cyclope
neritea, a gastropod inhabiting the arsenic-rich marine shallow-water hydrothermal system off Milos
Island, Greece. Special Issue: Geothermal Arsenic in Chemical Geology.
Meyer-Dombard, D.R., Price, R.E., Pichler, T., and Amend, J.P., (2012). Prokaryotic populations in
heated, arsenic-rich sediments of a shallow-sea hydrothermal system, Ambitle Island, Papua New
Guinea. Geomicrobiology Journal. 29, 1-17.
Pichler, T.; Price, R.; Lazareva, O.; and Dippold, A. (2011). Determination of arsenic concentration and
distribution in the Floridan Aquifer System. Journal of Geochemical Exploration. 111(3), 84-96.
Akerman, N.; Price, R.E.; Pichler, T.; Amend, J.P.; (2011). Energy sources for chemolithotrophs in an
arsenic- and iron-rich shallow-sea hydrothermal system. Geobiology. 9(5), 436-445.
Karlen D.J., Price R.E., Pichler T. and Garey, J.R. (2010). Changes in Benthic Macrofauna associated
with a Shallow-water Hydrothermal Vent Gradient in Papua New Guinea. Pacific Science. 64(3),
391-404
Price, R.E., and Pichler, T. (2009). Measuring toxic elements and toxicity in marine shallow-water
hydrothermal systems. In: B. Merkel and M. Schipek (Editors), Research in Shallow Marine and
Fresh Water Systems. Technische Universitaet Freiberg, Freiberg, Germany, pp. 82-86
Kopf, A., R. Apprioual, J. Blandin, J.-P. Brulport, P. Crassous, T. Fleischmann, A. Förster, G. Guyader,
S. Hammerschmidt, P. Henry, R. Jacinto Silva, J. Legrand, A. Mayer, S. Pape, P. Pelleau, P.
Pichavant, T. Pichler, R.E. Price, M. Seydel, S. Stegmann, K. Weber, (2009). REPORT AND
PRELIMINARY RESULTS OF POSEIDON CRUISE P386: NAIL (Nice Airport Landslide),
Berichte aus dem Fachbereich Geowissenschaften der Univ. Bremen, No. 271: 161pp
Price, R.E., (2008). Biogeochemical cycling of arsenic in the shallow marine hydrothermal system of
Tutum Bay, Ambitle Island, Papua New Guinea. University of South Florida, Scholar Commons
Citations - Theses and Dissertations. Paper 460. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/edt/460
Price, R.E., Pichler, T., and Amend, J.P., (2007); Enhanced geochemical gradients in a marine shallowwater hydrothermal system: Unusual arsenic speciation in horizontal and vertical pore water profiles.
Applied Geochemistry, 22, 2595-2605. Special issue on Gradients: Microbes, Methods, and
Measurements.
Pichler, T., Amend, J., Garey, J., Hallock, P., Hsia, N., Karlen, D., McCloskey, B., Meyer-Dombard, D.
and Price, R., 2006. A Natural Laboratory to Study Arsenic Geobiocomplexity. EOS, v. 87-23, 22125.
Price, R. E. and Pichler, T., 2006; Abundance and mineralogical association of arsenic in the Suwannee
Limestone (Florida): implications for arsenic release during water-rock interaction. Invited paper for
special issue of Chemical Geology, 228 (1-3), pp. 44-56
Price, R. E. and Pichler, T. 2005. Distribution, speciation and bioavailability of arsenic in a shallowwater submarine hydrothermal system, Tutum Bay, Ambitle Island, PNG. Invited paper for special
issue of Chemical Geology; 224, pp. 122-135
McCarthy, K.T.; Pichler, T.; and Price, R.E.; 2005. Geochemistry of Champagne Hot Springs Shallow
Hydrothermal Vent Field and Associated Sediments, Dominica, Lesser Antilles. Chemical Geology.
224, pp. 55-68
In prep (manuscript available)
Price, R.E.; Planar-Freidricks, B.; Savov, I.; and Pichler, T.; (in prep). Arsenic cycling, thioarsenates and
orpiment precipitation at a shallow-sea hydrothermal system, Milos Island, Greece. Journal Target:
Environmental Science and Technology.
Price, R.E., Meyerdierks, A., Nitsche, K, Edwards, K.; Lewsniewski, R.; and Amend, J.P., (in prep).
Microbial diversity at an arsenic-rich marine shallow-water hydrothermal vent system, Milos Island,
Greece. Journal target: Frontiers in Extreme Microbiology: Special Issue “Hydrothermal Microbial
Ecosystems”.
Price, R.E.; and Pichler, T.; (in prep). Trace metal distribution along a geothermal gradient of the marine
shallow-water vents off Ambitle Island, PNG. Journal Target: Applied Geochemistry.
Gilhooly, W.P.; Fike, D.; Amend, J.P.; Druschel, G.; and Price, R.E.; (in prep). Sulfur cycling in
shallow-sea hydrothermal vents, Milos Greece. Target Journal: Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta.
Bayraktarov, E.; Finster, K.; Price, R.E.; and Ferdelman, T.G.; (in prep). The pH-dependence of sulfate
reduction in shallow submarine hydrothermal CO2 – venting sediments (Milos Island, Greece).
Journal target: Applied and Environmental Microbiology.
Lin, L-H.; Tsai, W-Y.; Lu, G-H.; Wang, P-L.; Cheng, T-W.; and Price, R.E.; (in prep). Microbial
Communities in Shallow-Sea Hydrothermal Environment of the Kueishantao Island, Taiwan. Journal
target: ISME.
Huang, C-I; Amann R.; Amend, J.P.; Bach, W.; Brunner, B.; Italiano, F.; Meyerdierks, A.; Price, R.E.;
Schubotz, F.; Summons, R.; and Wenzhöfer, F.; (in preparation). Lithosphere-biosphere interaction
at a shallow-sea hydrothermal vent site; Hot Lake, Panarea, Italy. Journal Target:Applied and
Environmental Microbiology.
McCloskey, B.J., P. Hallock, R.E. Price, and T. Pichler. (in revision). Effects of arsenic on foraminiferal
growth rates in laboratory experiments, including growth enhancement at intermediate [As]. Journal
Target: Journal of Foraminiferal Research.
Craddock, P.R., Tivey, M.K., Seewald, J.S., Rouxel, O.J., Bach, W., Reeves. E., Price, R.E. Pichler, T.
(in prep). Geochemical processes affecting precious metal concentrations in hydrothermal fluids in
the Manus Basin. Journal Target: Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta.
McCloskey, B.J.; Hallock, P.; Price, R.E.; and T. Pichler. (in preparation). Taxonomy and community
structure of foraminifera near an arsenic-enriched shallow-water hydrothermal vent in Papua New
Guinea. Journal Target: Journal of Foraminiferal Research.
Advanced Research Diving Experience
My diving certifications include:
Certification
Date
PADI: Open Water Diver
13.08.2000
SSI: Advanced Open Water Diver
05.05.2005
SSI: Photography
21.05.2005
SSI: Marine Identification
21.05.2005
PADI: Nitrox
12.06.2005
NAUI: Dry Suit Diver
15.06.2006
NAUI: CPR
20.04.2007
NAUI: First Aid Provider
20.04.2007
DAN: Oxygen Provider
21.04.2007
German Forschungstaucher certification
01.04.2008
Since 2000, I have participated in several research projects where SCUBA diving was used as the
primary sample collection tool. These projects include:
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Sedimentation measurements in Blind Pass; west central Florida
Florida aquifer groundwater quality assessment; Gennie Springs, Florida
Dry suit diving certification/Florida aquifer; Florida Sink hole
Submarine groundwater discharge; Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands
Marine shallow-water hydrothermal vents, Champagne Hot Springs; Dominica Island, West Indies
Marine shallow-water hydrothermal vents, Bahia Conception, Baja California Sur, Mexico
Marine shallow-water hydrothermal vents, Punta Banda, Baja California Norte, Mexico
Kelp forest ecology project, La Jolla, California
Marine shallow-water hydrothermal vents, Ambitle Island, Papua New Guinea
Fiji coral reef assessment; Suva, Fiji
Florida Keys sediment and pore-water geochemistry; Florida Keys, Florida
Marine shallow-water hydrothermal vents; Panarea, Italy
Marine shallow-water hydrothermal vents; Milos and Santorini
Combined, I have conducted more than 300 research dives, with depth range from 1 to 40 meters,
under highly variable conditions, all over the world. I am currently a Research Diver under the auspices
of the University of Southern California.