Caroline S. Harwood is an American

microbiologist A microbiologist (from Ancient Greek, Greek ) is a scientist who studies microscopic life forms and processes. This includes study of the growth, interactions and characteristics of Microorganism, microscopic organisms such as bacteria, algae, f ...

who was elected to the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

in 2009. She is the Professor Gerald and Lyn Grinstein Professor of Microbiology and Associate Vice-Provost for Research at the University of Washington School of Medicine.

Education

Harwood attended Concord Academy, a girl's high school in Concord, Massachusetts. She studied at Colby College in Maine, and then received a master's degree in biology from Boston University. She studied under Ercole Canale-Parola at the University of Massachusetts

Amherst Amherst may refer to: People * Amherst (surname), including a list of people with the name * Earl Amherst of Arracan in the East Indies, a title in the British Peerage; formerly ''Baron Amherst'' * Baron Amherst of Hackney of the City of London, ...

, where she received her PhD in microbiology. She finished her post-doctoral studies at Yale University.

Teaching

Harwood held an academic appointment at Cornell University, and she was a professor of microbiology at the University of Iowa from 1988 until 2004. Since 2005 she has been teaching at the University of Washington.

Research

Her research topics include metabolic networks, bacterial signaling, and bioenergy production. Harwood demonstrated that soil bacteria catabolize some of the hardest compounds found in nature, such as

lignin Lignin is a class of complex organic polymers that form key structural materials in the support tissues of most plants. Lignins are particularly important in the formation of cell walls, especially in wood and bark, because they lend rigidity ...

components and compounds that cause pollution. She was the head of the project that uncovered the sequence of the genome of '' Rhodopseudomonas palustris,'' a bacterium that performs photosynthesis and is capable of heterotrophy and hydrogen production. In January 2018 Harwood was the senior author in an article published in ''

Nature Microbiology ''Nature Microbiology'' is a monthly online-only peer reviewed scientific journal published by Nature Portfolio. It was established in 2016. The editor-in-chief is Susan Jones who is part of an in-house team of editors. Abstracting and indexing ...

'' describing the discovery of a previously unknown

enzymatic pathway In biochemistry, a metabolic pathway is a linked series of chemical reactions occurring within a cell (biology), cell. The reactants, products, and intermediates of an enzymatic reaction are known as metabolites, which are modified by a sequence ...

for the natural biological production of methane.

Elected memberships

Harwood is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences, the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...

s and the American Academy of Microbiology.

Awards

In 2010 Harwood received the Procter & Gamble Award in Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harwood, Caroline Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American women biologists Women microbiologists Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences University of Iowa faculty University of Washington faculty Concord Academy alumni Cornell University faculty Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Colby College alumni Boston University Graduate School of Arts & Sciences alumni University of Massachusetts Amherst alumni American microbiologists 21st-century American biologists 20th-century American biologists 21st-century American women scientists 20th-century American women scientists American women academics