Michael Tice
  • Research Scientist
  • Geobiology and sedimentary geology

Research Interests

I am a geobiologist and astrobiologist who draws upon techniques from experimental microbiology, geochemistry, and sedimentary geology. My aims are to advance understanding of the linkages between the evolution of life and its environment and to reduce impacts of energy extraction on water resources. My specific research interests over the next 5-10 years are focused on the structuring and evolution of microbial ecosystems over deep time, the remote field geology and astrobiology of Mars, and the use of paleo-geobiological models to minimize water use and improve water recycling during production of unconventional hydrocarbon reservoirs.

Research Focus

  • Geobiology
  • Sedimentary geology

Educational Background

  • BS, Engineering & Applied Science, Caltech
  • MS, Geology, Duke
  • PhD, Geological & Environmental Science, Stanford

Awards & Honors

  • Montague CTE Scholar

Selected Publications

  • Z. Zeng and M.M. Tice, Promotion and nucleation of carbonate precipitation during microbial iron reduction, Geobiology, DOI: 10.1111/gbi.12090, 2014.

  • M.M. Tice, D.C.O. Thornton, M.C. Pope, T.D. Olszewski, and J. Gong, Archean microbial mat communities, Annual Reviews of Earth and Planetary Sciences, 39, 297–319, 2011.

  • M.T. Hren, M.M. Tice, and C.P. Chamberlain, Oxygen and hydrogen isotope evidence for a temperate climate 3.42 billion years ago, Nature, 462, 205–208, 2009.

  • M.M. Tice, Environmental controls on photosynthetic microbial mat morphogenesis on a 3.42 Ga clastic-starved platform, Astrobiology, 9, 989–1000, 2009.

  • M.M. Tice and D.R. Lowe, Photosynthetic microbial mats in the 3,416-Myr-old ocean, Nature 431(7008), 549-552, 2004.