Professional Interests

• Microbial Ecology
• Life in Extreme Environments

The study of microbial communities and their interaction with the environment (aka microbial ecology) has been the primary focus of Dr. Bruckner’s research to date.  In particular, Jim has studied microbial communities associated with extreme environments ranging from nutrient-rich hydrothermal features to desiccating, highly oligotrophic habitats associated with spacecraft surfaces and the clean rooms where spacecraft are assembled.  Additionally, Jim has helped design, build and evaluate technologies and processes aimed at improving sample collection from these environments.

Since coming to DRI in the fall of 2007, Jim's projects have included studies on the microbial communities of Walker Lake and the Truckee River along with communities present in some of the unique subsurface environments around southern Nevada. Using a combination of molecular techniques (i.e., flow cytometry, PCR, T-RFLP, molecular cloning and sequence analysis) and traditional aerobic/anaerobic cultivation methods these intriguing habitats have been shown to contain a diversity of microbial life and in some cases these studies represent the first evaluation of environments where life was not previously known to exist.

Selected Field Experience

• Walker Lake, Nevada (saline, alkaline terminal lake)
• Izu-Bonin Arc, Japan (deep sea hydrothermal vents – ROV HYPER-DOLPHIN)
• In collaboration w/ JAMSTEC (Japan)
• Samples collected at the Myojin Knoll (1.2km) and Suiyo Seamount (1.4km)
• Eyjafjordur Fjord, Iceland (shallow marine hydrothermal vents – SCUBA)
• In collaboration w/ University of Akureyri (Iceland)
• Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico (oligotrophic cave environments)
• In collaboration w/ USGS and University of New Mexico
• NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center, Alabama
  • Regenerative Enclosed Life Support Module Simulator (REMS) facility
• NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California
  • Spacecraft Assembly Facility (JPL-SAF)
• Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming (freshwater hydrothermal vents and springs – Eastern Oceanics ROV and SCUBA)
• In collaboration w/ University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Personal Interests

Outdoor life (hiking, camping, whitewater boating, snow sports, mtb, etc.), Indoor life (music, video games, technology, etc.), spicy food, beer, combinations of all the above.