Margaret Weng

Margaret "Maggie" Weng is a NASA Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford University, affiliated with the Earth System Science department. She employs cutting-edge techniques like metagenomics, metatranscriptomics, and stable isotope probing to study microbial communities in extreme environments, focusing on molybdenum dynamics at deep-sea methane seeps and microbial adaptation in hypersaline/polluted sites.

• PhD in Microbial Ecology (2024), Georgetown University
• BSc in Environmental Science (2019), Washington University in St. Louis

Her research explores microbial persistence at environmental extremes, linking community behavior to bioremediation potential and ecosystem stability. Fieldwork experiences span the Atacama Desert, Iceland's Kerlingarfjöll, Western Australia, and industrial settings like San Diego salt factories.

• Scientific recognition: NASA Postdoctoral Fellowship

Active in science communication through publications in The Los Angeles Review and Northern Woodlands magazine, Weng combines field research with narrative storytelling about microbial ecosystems.