Roger Summons

Roger Summons is a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he studies biogeochemistry and geobiology with the following themes - lipid chemistry of geologically significant microbes and microbially dominated ecostsyems; organic and isotopic indicators of climate change, biotic evolution and mass extinction; Age- and environment-diagnostic biomarkers in sediments and petroleum; Archean, Proterozoic and extraterrestrial biogeochemical fossils

Roger’s interest in the Lost City project arises from his work on other modern hydrothermal systems and fossil analogues from Australia that date to 1640 Million years ago. These fossil hydrothermal systems contain exotic biomarkers (molecular biosignatures) that have no known counterparts in modern organisms. Lost City offers the possibility for discovery of novel microbial communities and, therefore, unusual lipid biomarkers.