Dr. Verena Heuer

Name:		Dr. Verena Heuer
Abteilung:		Organic Geochemistry
Funktionen:		Research Scientist
Raum:		MARUM I / 2700
Telefon:		0421 218 - 65702
Fax:		0421 218 - 65715
E-Mail:		vheuer@uni-bremen.de

Research Interests

My research is aimed at understanding the biogeochemical processes that occur in marine sediments during early diagenesis. I am especially interested in the role of dissolved organic acids like acetate in the cycling of carbon in the deep marine biosphere and in sediments near gas-hydrates. My studies seek to decipher the information encoded in the carbon isotopic signatures of acetate and other volatile fatty acids with the aim to develop a proxy that aids in the identification of dominant biogeochemical processes and pathways.

Hinrichs Lab

I am conducting my research in the Hinrichs Lab in Organic Geochemistry which is located in the MARUM Center for Marine Environmental Research at the University of Bremen. For more information on our research questions, projects, and team click here.

I am currently involved in several research projects, including C-Nankai (IODP Exps. 315, 316, 322), DARCLIFE, MARUM-GB3, MARUM-F, BioFlüssigGas. Previously, I have contributed to the following completed research projects: C-Cascadia, VOFAS, Molecular-isotopic studies on the biogeochemistry of volatile fatty acids in marine sediments, MARUM-B2.

Education

2003	PhD, Dept. of Geosciences, University of Bremen
1993	Diplom (M.Sc.) in Geoecology, University of Bayreuth
1991	B.Sc., University of Canterbury, New Zealand

Positions

since 2010	Research Scientist in the Hinrichs Lab (Organic Geochemsitry) at the MARUM, Dept. of Geosciences, University of Bremen
2004 - 2010	Postdoctoral Fellow in the Hinrichs Lab (Organic Geochemsitry) at the Research Center Ocean Margins and MARUM, Dept. of Geosciences, University of Bremen
1999 - 2002	Research assistant in the special research project SFB 261 'The South Atlantic in the Late Quaternary: Reconstruction of Mass Budget and Current Systems', University of Bremen
1996 - 1998	Assistant for public relations at the Center of Excellence 'Ecological Development of Post-Mining Landscapes', Brandenburg University of Technology, Cottbus
1991 - 1992	Guest investigator at the Limnological Research Center of the Swiss Federal Institute for Environmental Science and Technology (EAWAG)/ETH Zurich, Switzerland

Seagoing Experience

February 2011	Organic geochemist during FS Meteor cruise M84/1 "DARCSEAS - Deep subseafloor Archaea in the eastern Mediterranean, Marmara and Black seas: carbon cycle, life strategies, and role in sedimentary ecosystems"
Nov. - Dec. 2010	Organic geochemist during R/V Atlantis/DSV Alvin cruise 18/2 "Seafloor Brine Seep Microbial Observatory" in the Gulf of Mexico
Sept.-October 2009	Organic geochemist during IODP Nankai Trough Seismogenic Zone ExperimentStage 2, IODP Exp. 322 "Subduction Inputs" with D/V Chikyu
Feb. - March 2009	Organic geochemist during FS Maria S. Merian cruise MSM 11/1 "Mid-Atlantic Ridge Site Surveys of Sediments and Basement in North Pond area in 7 Ma Western Flank of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge 23°N" - a pre-site survey for the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP)
April - May 2008	Organic geochemist during FS Meteor cruise M76/1 'Process studies in the eastern South Atlantic, Prosa'
Sept - Oct 2005	Pressure core sampling scientist/organic geochemist during IODP Exp. 311 'Cascadia Margin Gas Hydrates' with D/V JOIDES Resolution
June 2005	Organic geochemist during RV Professor Logachev cruise 'METRO/Training through Research 15' to the Black Sea
June - Aug 2004	Organic geochemist during IODP Exp. 301 'Juan de Fuca Hydrogeology' with D/V JOIDES Resolution
Dec 1999 - Feb 2000	Inorganic geochemist during FS Meteor cruises M46/2 and M46/3 to the continental margin off southern Brazil, Uruguay, and the Argentina Basin
July 1999	Student trainee during Trans Mediterranean Cruise MTP II (Marine Science and Technology Program of the European Commission) with RV Aegaio

Publications

Bell, E.M and Heuer, V.B. (2012) The Deep Biosphere: Deep Subterranean and Subseafloor Habitats. In Life at Extremes: Environments, Organisms and Strategies for Survival (ed. E.M. Bell), CAB International, 345-363.
Lin, Y.-S., Heuer, V.B., Goldhammer, T., Kellermann, M.Y., Zabel, M., and Hinrichs, K.-U. (2012) Towards constraining H2 concentration in subseafloor sediment: a proposal for combined analysis by two distinct approaches. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. 77, 186-201. doi: 10.1016/j.gca.2011.11.008
Ertefai, T., Heuer, V.B., Prieto-Mollar, X., Vogt, C., Sylva, S.P., Seewald, J., and Hinrichs, K.-U. (2010) The biogeochemistry of sorbed methane in marine sediments. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 74, 6033-6048. doi:10.1016/j.gca.2010.08.006
Lin, Y.-S., Heuer, V.B., Ferdelman, T.G., and Hinrichs, K.-U. (2010) Microbial formation of methylated sulfides in the anoxic sediment of Lake Plußsee, Germany, Biogeosciences, 7, 2433–2444. doi:10.5194/bg-7-2433-2010
Lever, M.A., Heuer, V.B., Morono, Y., Masui, N., Schmidt, F., Alperin, M.J., Inagaki, F., Hinrichs, K.-U., Teske, A. (2010) Acetogenesis in deep subseafloor sediment of the Juan de Fuca Ridge flank: a synthesis of geochemical, thermodynamic, and gene-based evidence, Geomicrobiology Journal, 27, 183-211. doi: 10.1080/01490450903456681
Heuer, V.B., Krüger, M., Elvert, M., Hinrichs, K.-U. (2010) Experimental studies on the stable carbon isotope biogeochemistry of acetate in lake sediments. Organic Geochemistry, 41, 22-30. doi: 10.1016/j.orggeochem.2009.07.004
Pohlman, J.W., Kaneko, M., Heuer, V.B., Coffin, R.B., Whiticar, M. (2009) Methane sources and production in the northern Cascadia margin gas hydrate system, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 287, 504-512. doi: 10.1016/j.epsl.2009.08.037
Heuer V.B., J. W. Pohlman, M. E. Torres, M. Elvert, and K.-U. Hinrichs (2009) The stable carbon isotope biogeochemistry of acetate and other dissolved carbon species in deep sub-seafloor sediments at the northern Cascadia Margin. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 73, 3323-3336. doi:10.1016/j.gca.2009.03.001
Heuer V., M. Elvert, S. Tille, X. Prieto Mollar, L.R. Hmelo, M. Krummen, and K.-U. Hinrichs (2006) Online delta13C analysis of volatile fatty acids in sediment/porewater systems by liquid chromatography-isotope ratio-mass spectrometry. Limnology and Oceanography: Methods, 4, 346-357.
Riedel, M., Collett, T., Malone, M., Akiba, F., Blanc-Valleron, M., Ellis, M., Guerin, G., Hashimoto, Y., Heuer, V., Higasi, Y., Holland, M., Jackson, P., Kaneko, M., Kastner, M., Kim, J.-H., Kitajima, H., Long, P, Malinverno, A., Myers, G., Palekar, L., Pohlman, J., Schultheiss, P., Teichert, B., Torres, M., Tréhu, Wang, J., Wortmann, U., and Yoshioka, H., 2006. Gas hydrate transect across northern Cascadia margin. Eos, Trans. Am. Geophys. Union, 87(33):325. doi:10.1029/2006EO330002.
Kasten S., Zabel M., Heuer V., and Hensen C. (2003) Processes and Signals of non-steady state diagenesis in deep-sea sediments and their pore waters. In Wefer, G., Mulitza, S., Ratmeyer, V.(eds) The South Atlantic in the Late Quaternary: Reconstruction of Mass Budget and Current Systems. Springer Verlag,.Berlin, Heidelberg, New York, pp. 431-459.
Hüttl R.F. and V. Heuer (1998) Auswirkungen des Braunkohletagebaus auf den Lebensraum Boden. In Barz, W., Hülster, A., Kraemer, K., Ströbele, W. (Hrsg.) Energie und Umwelt: Strategien einer nachhaltigen Entwicklung, ecomed, Landsberg, 55 – 68.

Publications in progress

Hädrich, A., Heuer, V.B., Herrmann, M., Hinrichs, K.-U., and Küsel, K. Origin and fate of acetate in an acidic fen. FEMS Microbiology Ecology. Accepted manuscript online: 9 March 2012 doi:10.1111/j.1574-6941.2012.01352.x

Technical Reports

Saito, S., Underwood, M.B., and Kubo, Y., and the Expedition 322 Scientists (2010) Proceedings of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program, Volume 322. Tokyo (Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Management International, Inc.). doi:10.2204/iodp.proc.322.2010
Underwood, M.B., Saito, S., Kubo, Y., and the Expedition 322 Scientists (2009) NanTroSEIZE Stage 2: subduction inputs. IODP Prel. Rept., 322. doi:10.2204/iodp.pr.322.2009
Mienert, J., J. Parkes, B.B. Jørgensen, A. Boetius, P.A. Bjørkum, G.Bohrman, G. de Batist, G. Etiope, K. Kormas, V. Heuer, G. Aloisi, V. Diaz del Rio, and R. del Gaudio (2007) Biosphere-geosphere interactions: fluid flow and gas seepage at continental margins. In P. Cochonat et al. (eds) The Deep-Sea Frontier. Science challenges for a sustainable future. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, Luxembourg, 16-23.
Riedel, M., Collett, T.S., Malone, M.J., and the Expedition 311 Scientists (2006) Proceedings of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program, Volume 311. Washington, DC (Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Management International, Inc.) doi: 10.2204/iodp.proc.311.2006.
Riedel, M., Collett, T.S., Malone, M.J., and the IODP Expedition 311 Scientists (2006) Stages of gas-hydrate evolution on the northern Cascadia margin. Sci. Drill., 3:18-24. doi:10.2204/iodp.sd.3.04.2006.
Expedition 311 Scientists (2005) Cascadia margin gas hydrates. IODP Prel. Rept., 311. doi:10:2204/iodp.pr.311.2005.
Fisher, A.T., Urabe, T., Klaus, A., and the Expedition 301 Scientists (2005) Juan de Fuca Hydrogeology Proceedings of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program, Volume 301: College Station TX (Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Management International, Inc.). doi:10.2204/iodp.proc.301.2005.
Fisher, A.T., Urabe, T., Klaus, A., and the IODP Expedition 301 Scientists (2005) IODP Expedition 301 installs three borehole crustal observatories, prepares for three-dimensional, cross-hole experiments in the northeastern Pacific Ocean. Sci. Drill., 1:6–11. doi:10.2204/iodp.sd.1.01.2005.
Shipboard Scientific Party (2004) Juan de Fuca hydrogeology: The hydrogeologic architecture of basaltic oceanic crust: compartmentalization, anisotropy, microbiology, and crustal-scale properties on the eastern flank of Juan de Fuca Ridge, eastern Pacific Ocean. IOPD Prel. Rept., 301. doi:10.2204/iodp.pr.301.2004.