Dr. Randall S. Perry

Biogeochemistry

Biogeochemistry seeks to understand the relationships between biological products and minerals. A similar area of research but with a slightly different emphasis is organic geochemisty where organic compounds and inorganic molecules interface. This area includes the important topic of organic molecules, such as amino acids in meteorites. The only existing record of life in the solar system that predates life's origin on Earth or Mars are carbonaceous meteorites and they are as old as the solar system (~4.5 Ga). Ancient fossils on Earth may date back as far as ~3.5 Ga or nearly as long as the rock record exists. Another similar area of interest is geomicrobiology that seeks to understand the relationships between microbes, rocks and mineral surfaces. Good examples of this are rock coatings and other deposits found in deserts and hot-springs. The preservation of organic molecules in minerals, such as those in amorphous silica, may provide important information about paleoenvironments.

Language Interests

Most people consider the language used by scientists to be the most precise and unambiguous form possible and so it should be. New terms are being coined all the time and must accurately describe new developments and discoveries. Terminology can influence the direction that scientific investigations take. I am interested in these and other questions regarding the relationship between language and science.

Research Collaborators
Alvin Dives
Travels, Art, Llamas, and...
Extreme Environments and Desert Varnish

• Darwin to Mars and primordial crust
• The microbial and the mineral interface
• Deep-time fossils
  
• Organominerals, dissolution and redeposition of minerals
• Black opal (desert varnish) as an organic biomarker in silica
• Molecular biology of rock coatings and solution deposits
• Preservation of microbial compounds and amino acids
  and their detection in ancient Earth environments and on other planets
• Life in extreme environments and Microcolonial Fungi
  
• Organic compounds on planetary bodies and meteorites
• Understanding the evolutionary connections between biology and knowledge
• Chemical signatures of mass extinctions
• Inorganic biochemistry, silica and desert varnish lab experiments
• Desert Varnish and Microstromatolites
  

Chemical Properties of Primordial Time

In order to design effective experiments to look for life or life's precursors here and on other planetary bodies, a definition of 'life" is necessary that does not constrain our thinking. We need a better understanding of the nature of living systems so that we can formulate a working description which will allow us to recognize life or its "fingerprints", regardless of the form.