Research Areas
Research Interests:
- Bioremediation – combining geochemical, biological, hydrogeological, and engineering solutions to soil, sediments, groundwater, and surface water remediation
- Aqueous biogeochemistry (freshwater and marine)
- Fate and transport of metals and organic/inorganic chemical species in aqueous and sediment environments
- Microbial ecology of aqueous and sediment environments
The focus of Dr. Beazley’s research includes the fate and transport of contaminants in our environment. She studies both terrestrial and marine systems in order to understand how contaminants affect not only the biogeochemistry of an ecosystem but also the microbial ecology. Contaminants that are studied include heavy metals/radionuclides, hydrocarbons, dispersants, fertilizers/pesticides, pharmaceuticals/personal care products, and excess nutrients. She is specifically interested in harnessing the metabolic activities of microorganisms to aid in the remediation of containments in situ. Current projects include the microbial degradation of PAHs in marine environments as a result of oil spills, phosphorus cycling in natural waters, effects of metals and emerging contaminants on the microbiome of natural ecosystems, and microbial source tracking.
Syllabi
Publications
- Salome KR, MJ Beazley, SM Webb, PA Sobecky, and M Taillefert (2017) Biomineralization of U(VI) phosphate promoted by microbially-mediated phytate hydrolysis in contaminated soils. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 197 27-42
- Martinez RJ, MJ Beazley, and PA Sobecky (2014) Phosphate-mediated remediation of metals and radionuclides. Advances in Ecology Volume 2014, Article ID 786929
- Martinez RJ, C Wu, MJ Beazley, GL Andersen, ME Conrad, TC Hazen, M Taillefert, and PA Sobecky (2014) Microbial community responses to organophosphate substrate additions in contaminated subsurface soils. PLoS ONE 9 (6): e100383
- Salome KR, SJ Green, MJ Beazley, SM Webb, JE Kostka, and M Taillefert (2013) The role of anaerobic respiration in the immobilization of uranium through biomineralization of phosphate minerals. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 106 344-363
- Mortazavi B, A Horel, MJ Beazley, and PA Sobecky (2013) Intrinsic rates of petroleum hydrocarbon biodegradation in Gulf of Mexico intertidal sandy sediments and its enhancement by organic substrates. Journal of Hazardous Materials 244-245 537-544
- Mortazavi B, A Horel, JS Anders, A Mirjafari, MJ Beazley, and PA Sobecky (2013) Enhancing the biodegradation of oil in sandy sediments with choline: A naturally methylated nitrogen compound. Environmental Pollution 182 53-62
- Beazley MJ, RJ Martinez, S Rajan, J Powell, YM Piceno, LM Tom, GL Andersen, TC Hazen, JD Van Nostrand, J Zhou, B Mortazavi, and PA Sobecky (2012) Microbial community analysis of a coastal salt marsh affected by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. PLoS ONE 7(7): e41305
- Madden AS, AL Swindle, MJ Beazley, JW Moon, B Ravel, and TJ Phelps (2012) Long-term solid-phase fate of co-precipitated U(VI)-Fe(III) following biological iron reduction by Thermoanaerobacter. American Mineralogist 97 1641-1652
- Beazley MJ, SM Webb, RJ Martinez, PA Sobecky, and M Taillefert (2011) The effect of pH and natural microbial phosphatase activity on the speciation of uranium in subsurface soils. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 75 (19) 5648-5663
- Beazley MJ, RJ Martinez, PA Sobecky, SM Webb, and M Taillefert (2009) Nonreductive biomineralization of uranium(VI) phosphate via microbial phosphatase activity in anaerobic conditions. Geomicrobiology Journal 26, 431-441
- Beazley MJ, RJ Martinez, SM Webb, PA Sobecky, and M Taillefert (2007) Uranium biomineralization as a result of bacterial phosphatase activity: Insights from bacterial isolates from a contaminated subsurface. Environmental Science & Technology 41, 5701-5707
- Martinez RJ, MJ Beazley, M Taillefert, AK Arakaki, J Skolnick, and PA Sobecky (2007) Aerobic uranium(VI) bioprecipitation by metal-resistant bacteria isolated from radionuclide- and metal-contaminated subsurface soils. Environmental Microbiology 9 (12) 3122-3133
- Morse JW and MJ Beazley (2008) Organic matter in deep water sediments of the Northern Gulf of Mexico and its relationship to the distribution of benthic organisms. Deep Sea Research II: Topical Studies in Oceanography 55 (24-26) 2563-2571
- Beazley MJ, RD Rickman, DK Ingram, TW Boutton, and J Russ (2002) Natural abundances of carbon isotopes (14C, 13C) in lichens and calcium oxalate pruina: Implications for archaeological and paleoenvironmental studies. Radiocarbon 44 (3), 675-683
