Karen Cameron is studying polar marine bacterial activities at subzero temperatures (down to -196°C). Her work may facilitate a better understanding of microbial survival at low temperatures, and may develop further what is known of the limitations of life within extreme environments.
Karen is also researching into the geomicrobiology of melt waters released from the Greenland Ice Sheet. In this research, the relationship between microbial community structure and melt water chemistry will be investigated throughout an entire melt season, in an attempt to explore biogeochemical interactions between glacial microbial communities and their surrounding environment.