Ashley Manning-Berg

Ashley Manning-Berg is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology, Geology, and Environmental Science at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, College of Arts and Sciences. Her research focuses on using chemical sedimentary rocks to investigate Earth's surface environments and early diagenesis effects, particularly in Precambrian marginal marine settings relevant to early life studies and extraterrestrial analogs.

• Specializes in Proterozoic microbial mats and their silicification constraints
• Applies findings to NASA's Mars exploration for biosignature detection
• Studies modern cave sediments and microplastic deposition in rivers

Recent work includes modeling microbial mat decay (2020), calcitized evaporites in Mauritania (2023), and taphonomic heterogeneity analysis in the Angmaat Formation (2021). Her lab conducts decomposition experiments to understand preservation biases in the rock record.

Current projects explore:

• Microplastic transport in cave systems
• Algal mound stratigraphy
• Carbonate-water-microbe interactions