Jessica Mitchell

A microbial physiologist with a decade of experience exploring animal-microbe interactions, novel microbial metabolisms, and the interplay between such metabolisms and the environment.

• A coordinated dual carbon fixation strategy in Riftia pachyptila’s symbionts: insights from a metabolic rate and co-expression analysis, Mitchell, J., Freedman, A., Delaney, J., & Girguis, P., OSM24, 02/18/2024
• Beyond the single pathway: co-expression analysis reveals distinct roles of dual carbon fixation in Riftia pachyptila symbionts, Mitchell, J., Freedman, A., Delaney, J., & Girguis, P., Nature Microbiology, Accepted 'in principle'
• Novel insights on obligate symbiont lifestyle and adaptation to chemosynthetic environment as revealed by the giant tubeworm genome, de Oliveira A., Mitchell J.; Girguis P. & Bright M., Molecular Biology and Evolution, 12/2021
• Metabolic versatility of the hydrothermal vent worm Riftia pachyptila: Allying transcriptional and metabolic responses to a dynamic environment, Mitchell, J., Harvard University, 04/27/2021
• Cooccurring Activities of Two Autotrophic Pathways in Symbionts of the Hydrothermal Vent Tubeworm Riftia pachyptila, Leonard, J. M., Mitchell, J., Beinart, R. A., Delaney, J. A., Sanders, J. G., Ellis, G., Goddard, E. A., Girguis, P. R., & Scott, K. M., Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 87, 17, 1–15, 2021
• Physiological dynamics of chemosynthetic symbionts in hydrothermal vent snails, Breusing, C.; Mitchell, J.; Delaney, J.; Sylva, S.; Seewald, J.; Girguis, P. & Beinart, R., ISME Journal, 2020
• Hydrogen does not appear to be a major electron donor for the deep-sea hydrothermal vent symbiosis Riftia pachyptila, Mitchell, J. H., Leonard, J. M., Delaney, J., Girguis, P. R., & Scott, K. M., Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 86, 1, 1–13, 2019
• The versatile metabolism of a chemoautotrophic symbiosis, Mitchell, J. (presented as former name, Panzarino, J). T. Yu, J. Delaney, N. Sarode, R. Beinart, K. Scott, F. Stewart and P. Girguis, 6th International Symposium on Chemosynthesis-Based Ecosystems, 08/27/2017
• Characterizing the physiological response of host and symbiont to varying sulfide in Riftia pachyptila, Mitchell, J. (presented as former name, Panzarino, J); J. Sanders, J. Delaney, K. Scott and P. Girguis, Gordon Research Conference: Animal-Microbe Symbioses, 06/21/2015
• The nitrogen metabolism of wood boring bivalves and their symbionts: A research proposal, Mitchell, J. (presented as former name, Panzarino, J); D. Distel and P. Girguis, 2nd Symbiomics Field Workshop Shallow Water Symbioses: From the Genomes to the Environment and Back II, 05/28/2014
• Sedimentation rates and C,N and P analysis of a Massachusetts pond, Mitchell, J. (presented as former name, Panzarino, J); J. Zhu, N. Fallon and A. Christian, 2011 North American Benthological Society Annual Meeting, 05/22/2011

• University of Massachusetts Boston Undergraduate Research Funds, Sediment Analysis of Tispaquin Pond, Alan Christian, 2012
• University of Massachusetts Boston Undergraduate Research Funds, Sediment Analysis of Tispaquin Pond, Alan Christian, 2011

• The Mark and Catherine Winkler Single Parent Endowed Scholarship, 2018-2020
• Award for Best Student Poster at the 6th International Symposium on Chemosynthesis-Based Ecosystems, 2017
• National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, 2015
• James Mills Pierce Fellowship, Harvard University, 2014

• Co-instructor for Deep Sea Biology class at Harvard extension school, 2021
• Teaching fellow for Deep Sea Biology class at Harvard Extension school, 2020, 2017
• Teaching fellow for Sea Monsters class at Harvard Extension school, 2019
• Teaching fellow for Deep Sea Biology at Harvard College, 2019, 2015
• Guest lecturer for Deep Sea Biology classes at Harvard College and Harvard extension school, 2016-2020

• Mentoring and training a Harvard Extension school student in pursuit of a Master’s thesis, 2021-2023
• Presented in classes at Lincoln Elementary school and Brookline High School, 2015-2023
• Shared my experience with youth at the Women and Girls in STEM events at the Museum of Science, Boston, 2018/21
• Peer mentor to undergraduate researchers participating in the REU program, 2020
• Mentored a Harvard Extension student in the pursuit of a Masters thesis, 2018/19
• Mentored and trained Harvard University undergraduates, 2017/18
• Presented my research in 100’s of classrooms during a live ship-to-shore outreach event in Lau Basin, Western Pacific, 2016
• Speaker at the “I Heart Science” outreach event at the Harvard Natural History Museum, 2016
• Mentor in the Women in Stem (WISTEM) program at Harvard University, 2015/16
• High school mentor for a Cambridge Ringe and Latin Research Marine Science internship at Harvard University, 2014/15
• Peer Mentor to a Biology II Freshman Success Community for a Gateway Seminar Course, Evolutionary Perspectives on Human Health with Prof. John Ebersole, 2012

• Deep sea research cruise in the East Pacific Rise, Dr. Peter R. Girguis, Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 2023, To collect Riftia pachyptila tubeworms, and incubate them under experimental controlled conditions to track carbon and nitrogen through their metabolites.
• Deep sea research cruise in the Guaymas Basin, Dr. Peter R. Girguis, Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 2019, To collect Riftia pachyptila tubeworms, and attempt to grow their symbiotic bacteria without their host.
• Deep sea research cruise in the East Pacific Rise, Dr. Peter R. Girguis, Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 2016, This cruise was a return to the original site that was studied in 2014 in order to perform a larger breadth of experimental conditions.
• Deep sea research cruise in the Lau Basin, Dr. Peter R. Girguis and Dr. Roxanne Beinart, Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 2016, To study the physiological response of the deep sea snail Alvinichoncha and their associated symbiotic bacteria under varying conditions in order to increase our understanding of animal-microbe symbiosis.
• Deep sea research cruise in the East Pacific Rise, Dr. Peter R. Girguis, Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 2014, To study the physiological response of Riftia pachyptila and their associated symbiotic bacteria under varying conditions in order to increase our understanding of animal-microbe symbiosis.
• Senior Honors Thesis, Freshwater Ecology Lab, Dr. Alan Christian, Department of Biology, University of Massachusetts Boston, 2012, To determine the effects of land use change in a Massachusetts pond by analyzing sediment cores for shifts in organic and inorganic materials, particle size composition, and carbon, phosphate, and nitrogen percentages and ratios.
• Study Abroad Research in the Peruvian Amazon, research assistant, Dr. Richard Bodmer, Operation Wallacea, Conservation research through academic partnerships, 2011, To collect data on the diversity and abundance of vertebrates in the region in order to assess the efficacy of hunting quotas and monitor the effects of land use change and shifts in climate.
• Freshwater Ecology Lab, research assistant, Dr. Alan Christian, Department of Biology, University of Massachusetts Boston, 2010, To evaluate the stoichiometric role of fresh water mussels in nutrient recycling of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorous in a Massachusetts pond.

• WiSTEM at Harvard
• Deep Sea Biology Societ
• Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography
• Microbial Sciences Initiative
• American Geophysical Union