Therese Sallstedt
Postdoctoral Researcher.
Contact
Phone: +46 (0)8 519 541 71
E-mail: Therese.Sallstedt@nrm.se
Billing and Mailing Address:
Education
MSc. Stockholm University, Sweden, 2009
Ph.D. University of Southern Denmark, Denmark 2016
Responsibilities
I am a guest researcher in geobiology focusing on ancient microbial mats and stromatolites. I am involved in X-ray microtomography work and preparation of microfossils within research projects related to the Vindhyan and Aravalli Supergroups, India, and registration of samples for the museum database within the same projects.
Interests
My research interests are related to the evolution of life on Earth and how we can use the rock record to decipher what kind of biological diversity was present on the Earth billions of years ago. More specifically, I’m interested in the interaction between microbes and minerals, and the joint traces they leave behind in the fossil record. I want to understand how much of this record reflects preservational or taphonomical biases.
During my Ph.D. I approached these questions by studying 1.6 and 2-billion-year-old phosphatized microbial mats from India, which led to increased understanding of the paleoecology and preservation of biosignatures related to phosphatic environments in Paleoproterozoic times (1.6-2.5 billion years ago).
I also work with modern biofilms and mineralization in different types of lacustrine and terrestrial systems, including urban settings. I appreciate working across different temporal scales; to use modern systems as analogs for ancient environments.
Fieldwork in India: Phosphatic-dolomitic stromatolites from Chitrakoot, central India (1.6 billion years old).
Other Professional Roles
- Staff-member for Geologins dag, NRM
Awards
- NASA Planetary Biology Internship (NASA PBI), 2006
