Magdalena Osburn

Magdalena Osburn is an Associate Professor at Northwestern University's Department of Earth, Environmental & Planetary Sciences within the Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences. Her research focuses on geobiology of extreme environments, including the deep subsurface, hydrothermal systems, and caves, with a particular emphasis on compound-specific isotope organic geochemistry (H, C, S) applied to microbial ecology and biogeochemical cycling. She leads the Osburn laboratory, which includes specialized facilities like OrgGeoLab, BugLab, Stable Isotope Lab, and shares the GeoCAL Lab.

• Ph.D. (2013) and M.S. (2008) in Geobiology from Caltech
• B.A. (2007) summa cum laude in Earth & Planetary Sciences and Environmental Studies from Washington University in St. Louis

Her work integrates organic geochemistry, microbiology, and stratigraphy to investigate microbial processes in modern and ancient environments through lipid biomarkers and isotopic analysis. Key research areas include:

• Hydrogen isotopic composition of lipids as environmental and metabolic indicators
• Geochemical modeling of aqueous environments for microbial life
• Neoproterozoic ocean-atmosphere chemical evolution
• Carbonate sedimentology with focus on microbialite preservation

Recent publications highlight her contributions to deep subsurface biofilm characterization (2020), Greenland ice sheet carbon dynamics (2018), and microbialite studies in Mexico (2017). Her isotopic research reveals trends in microbial metabolism across various environments.

Scientific recognition includes:

• Packard Fellowship (2017)
• NSF CAREER Award (2021)
• CIFAR Earth 4D Fellow (2019)
• Scialog Fellow (2020)
• AT&T Research Fellow (2021)

She has secured major grants from NSF, NASA, and Packard Foundation for projects like the BRAILLE NASA PSTAR proposal and studies on subsurface microbe-rock-fluid systems. Her teaching portfolio includes graduate and undergraduate courses in geobiology, microbial ecology, and sedimentary geology fieldwork.

Laboratory components under her supervision include:

• OrgGeoLab for lipid extraction and isotope analysis
• BugLab for microbial cultivation and imaging
• Stable Isotope Lab (GC-IRMS for δD and δ13C measurements)
• GeoCAL Lab for sediment core processing