Susan Lang

Susan Lang is a graduate student in Chemical Oceanography at the University of Washington. She is studying dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in hydrothermal vent systems. The organic chemistry in hydrothermal vents could be affected by any number of processes, such as biological alteration, abiotic formation, or abiotic destruction. Looking at how much and what kind of DOC is coming out of vents should let us know which of these processes is occuring. Susan is also trying to determine the role of hydrothermal vents in the cycling of carbon in the ocean. Lost City should be particularly intersting because this type of system has been proposed as an ideal site for abiotic formation of organic molecules. When Susan is not in lab or at sea, she spends most of her time getting beaten up on a rugby pitch.