Diana Northup has been studying things that live in caves since 1984. She has a Ph.D. in Biology from the University of New Mexico. She and her colleagues on the SLIME (Subsurface Life In Mineral Environments) Team are investigating how microbes help form the colorful ferromanganese deposits that coat the walls of Lechuguilla and Spider Cave in Carlsbad Caverns National Park; how microbes participate in the precipitation of calcium carbonate formations called pool fingers; and the microbial diversity located in the hydrogen sulfide cave, Cueva de las Sardinas in Tabasco, Mexico.
In prior studies, she investigated the community structure of the arthropods of Carlsbad Cavern. Diana has been honored by having her work featured on NOVA, CNN, Discovery Channel, National Geographic, and by being asked to serve as a Guest Editor for Geomicrobiology Journal for a special issue on Geomicrobiology of Caves. Currently, she is Professor Emerita and a Visiting Associate Professor in the Department of Biology at the University of New Mexico, where she is actively researching cave geomicrobiology using geochemical, molecular and microscopy techniques.
