Jennifer Pett-Ridge

Jennifer Pett-Ridge is an American biologist who is a senior staff scientist at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. She also serves as an adjunct professor at the University of California, Merced. Her research makes use of systems biology and geochemistry to uncover function in microbial communities. She was awarded a 2021 United States Department of Energy Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award.

Early life and education

Pett-Ridge studied biology at Yale University. She moved to the Yale School of the Environment for graduate studies, and specialized in forest science. She worked as a forest service technician at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest. After earning her master's degree, Pett-Ridge joined the University of California, Berkeley for her doctoral research. Her research considered how fluctuating redox regimes impact the ecology of microbial communities. She was appointed a postdoctoral fellow at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and vice chair of soil ecology at the Ecological Society of America.

Research and career

Pett-Ridge served as lead scientist for the science focus area on Genomic Science. In 2018, Pett-Ridge was appointed lead of the soil microbiome focus area, in which she oversees the LLML Carbon Uptake pillar of the Carbon Initiative. Pett-Ridge has worked in microbial ecology in an effort to understand and predict future climates. She developed isotopic tools (typically C and N isotope composition) and imaging to quantify how climate influences the health of soil, microorganisms and plants. She was supported by a United States Department of Energy Early Career award to investigate how soil microbial communities responded to climate change. In particular, she developed nanoscale secondary ion mass spectrometry.

Pett-Ridge has investigated whether it is possible to sequester carbon dioxide using plants like switchgrass. The roots of switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) can extend 50 feet down, which can contribute to carbon sequestration by locking carbon deep into ground.

In 2020, Pett-Ridge was appointed lead for Sustainability in the Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation (CABBI).

Awards and honors

• 2019 Geochemical Society Endowed Biogeochemistry Lecture
• 2021 United States Department of Energy Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award

Select publications

• F. Wolfe-Simon; J. S. Blum; T. R. Kulp; et al. (2 December 2010). "A Bacterium That Can Grow by Using Arsenic Instead of Phosphorus". Science. 332 (6034): 1163–1166. doi:10.1126/SCIENCE.1197258. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 21127214. Wikidata Q21706159.
• Marco Keiluweit; Jeremy J. Bougoure; Peter S. Nico; Jennifer Pett-Ridge; Peter K. Weber; Markus Kleber (30 March 2015). "Mineral protection of soil carbon counteracted by root exudates". Nature Climate Change. 5 (6): 588–595. doi:10.1038/NCLIMATE2580. ISSN 1758-678X. Wikidata Q110944846.
• Erin E Nuccio; Angela Hodge; Jennifer Pett-Ridge; Donald J Herman; Peter K Weber; Mary K Firestone (30 January 2013). "An arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus significantly modifies the soil bacterial community and nitrogen cycling during litter decomposition". Environmental Microbiology. 15 (6): 1870–1881. doi:10.1111/1462-2920.12081. ISSN 1462-2912. PMID 23360621. Wikidata Q34566994.