This fall, Dr. Kira Homola joins our group for two years to work with us on our NSF-funded methane seep project. Kira received the prestigious NSF postdoctoral research fellowship. In her project, she will assess how much of the carbon captured when rocks form at deep ocean methane seeps is released back into the water column over time due to biomediated corrosion.

Born in Hawaii, Kira grew up in the Salish Sea of Washington state where she fell in love with the ocean and natural world. In 2013, she completed two bachelors of science degrees from the University of Washington (UW), one in mechanical engineering and one in oceanography with a minor in climate science. During her three years at UW, she was able to spend four months at sea on oceanographic expeditions. She continued her studies at the University of Rhode Island with the lab groups of Dr. Art Spivack and Dr. Rebecca Robinson. In 2020, she completed her PhD in Oceanography on the fate of atmospheric carbon in ancient oceans and the temperature and pressure limits of microbial life using techniques including porewater geochemistry and thermodynamic modeling.

Welcome to UCLA, Kira!