Image Credit Photos: Luca Galuzzi - www.galuzzi.it

Discover first hand the biodiversity of life in an extreme environment.  See how life thrives in Laguna Colorada, a red-orange lake saturated with sodium chloride and borax, and located in the Bolivian altiplano (“high plains”) at ~4200 m.

The striking color of the water contrasts with brilliant white salt deposits along the shore.  The lake is stunning, with flamingos and small inlets lined with colorful red and green algal mats.

Several plants inhabit the area around Laguna Colorada, including xerophytic dwarf shrubs mixed with semi-desert species and grasses. This plant community makes possible the existence of several mammals, such as vicuñas and llamas. The latter are numerous in this region due to local ranching, and can be seen at the edge and in the freshwater inlet of the lake.

With this team you will be among the first to investigate the relationship of life to this unusual environment.  We’ll seek to determine the biodiversity of the microbial inhabitants in the lake, and how the diversity changes in response to seasonal changes in the environment, as well as assess whether this relatively isolated and unusual environment supports endemic species or simply selects for a suite of microbes.

You will fly with the team to Antofagasta, Chile, and cross the driest place in the world, the Atacama desert. Once across the desert, you and the team will acclimate to high altitude in the little village of San Pedro de Atacama on the Chilean-Bolivian border before ascending to the lake.  During this time, you’ll be able to shop for a variety of items sold by the natives, as well as dine on authentic Chilean cuisine. After two days you and the team will cross the border into Bolivia and ascend to the lake.  Once there, the team will show you both the lake and nearby geological sites. You’ll help the team collect samples of water, microbes, and minerals.  And of course you’ll be able to spend some time relaxing and soaking in the warm thermales (thermal springs) near the lake. 

Depending upon your level of interest and skill you may also contribute to field analyses that could lead to co-authorship on a peer reviewed scientific publication.  Minimum recommended time 2 weeks.

Microbe expert Rocco Mancinelli is the lead researcher in one of the Carl Sagan Center’s newest on-site laboratories. Like many CSC scientists, he is interested in extremophiles, the organisms
that, on Earth, live at the limits of life. A common thread of his work is the search for the defi nitive environmental limits within which life can arise and evolve on planets. Such data will give insight into the potential for life elsewhere in the solar system, for example, Mars.

Rocco is a renown expert on halophiles – salt-loving bacteria – which he believes might be similar to microbes elsewhere in the cosmos. He conducts fi eld studies in a variety of different envi ronments, ranging from the Antarctic and Alpine tundra to the hot springs of Yellowstone National Park and Chile’s Atacama desert. Rocco has even exposed microbes to the extreme cold, vacuum and zero gravity found in space, and has shown that some halophiles actually are able to survive such extreme conditions. A further research interest is the evolution of the nitrogen cycle and the role of nitrogen in microbial ecologies. Nitrogen seems a key element for two reasons: Fixed nitrogen is an important limiting nutrient in many terrestrial systems, and it appears that nitrogen would have been one of the most important limiting nutrients on Mars as well. There is much to be learned about the potential for martian life by studying the limits of life on our own world.

For more information on how to adopt this scientist
Please call us toll free at 1-866-616-3617 and ask for Karen Randall.