The Keck Foundation, whose mission is to boost high-impact basic scientific research, invited UC Berkeley to apply to its one-time Bridge Funding Initiative in order to rapidly deploy funding to early- to mid-career faculty and their graduate students who were especially vulnerable to changes in the federal funding landscape.
Funding for these projects is meant to ensure that there is no disruption to the career trajectories of graduate students and to help retain faculty in their early and middle career stages.
According to the grant’s principal investigator, Vice Chancellor for Research Katherine Yelick, “Berkeley’s research enterprise depends on bold ideas and the people who carry them forward. At a moment of uncertainty in the broader funding landscape, support from the Keck Foundation is especially meaningful — it allows our faculty and their graduate student collaborators to sustain momentum on high-risk, high-impact work that might otherwise be disrupted. These projects reflect the creativity, rigor, and interdisciplinary spirit that define Berkeley, and they underscore our commitment to ensuring that the next generation of scholars can continue to thrive and lead.”
The selected Bridge Funding Initiative Faculty Scholars and their Ph.D. Fellows will carry out the following innovative research with generous support from the Keck Foundation:
Dr. Trevor Keenan and Jackie Reu: Terrestrial Carbon Cycle Dynamics
Keenan, an expert in quantitative ecosystem dynamics, and Ph.D. student Jackie Reu are utilizing a novel machine-learning-guided model, DifferLand, to investigate why the terrestrial carbon sink is showing signs of instability and heightened variability. This work is transformative because it aims to provide the first mechanism-based diagnosis of whether the Earth’s land-based carbon sink is reaching a saturation point under climate extremes.
Dr. Daniel Stolper and Zsolt Marka: Global Cooling and Animal Diversification
Stolper, a geochemist and geobiologist, and Ph.D. student Zsolt Marka are investigating the “Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event” to determine if a massive drop in ocean temperatures triggered the rise of complex animal life. By applying cutting-edge triple oxygen isotope spectroscopy to ancient, fossilized conodont teeth, the team will definitively test climate records from 500 million years ago. This research has the potential to rewrite our understanding of how planetary climate history dictates the evolution and diversification of life.
Dr. Albert Ruhi and Jasmine Rios: Resurrection Ecology and Climate Resilience
Freshwater ecologist Albert Ruhi and Ph.D. student Jasmine Rios are probing the limits of “seed and egg banks” that allow organisms to survive dry periods in seasonal wetlands. Their project uses controlled experiments and field surveys to understand how increased climate variability might trigger “false starts” that deplete these ancient biological insurance mechanisms. The findings will identify critical thresholds of ecosystem resilience and help forecast which species will survive or perish in shifting hydroclimatic gradients.
Dr. Jennifer Bergner and Morgan Kennebeck: Noble Gas Trapping in the Early Solar System
Bergner, whose research sits at the intersection of astrochemistry, chemical physics, and planetary science, and Ph.D. candidate Morgan Kennebeck are exploring how noble gases were transported and trapped during the formation of our Solar System. The team is using state-of-the-art lab instrumentation to test a novel hypothesis: that noble gases were harbored within refractory organic materials rather than just water ice. This research could solve long-standing puzzles regarding Jupiter’s composition and provide a new understanding of how volatile elements were delivered to Earth and other planets.
Dr. Molly Ohainle and Bridgett Rios: Primate Lentiviruses and Zoonotic Adaptation
Virologist and Molecular Biologist Molly Ohainle and Ph.D. candidate Bridgett Rios are studying the molecular barriers that viruses must overcome to jump from animals to humans. By engineering a novel SIVcpz latency model, the team is investigating how host transcriptional machinery acts as an intrinsic barrier to zoonotic events like the rise of HIV-1. This work will uncover foundational insights into host-virus co-evolution and identify the specific cellular “locks” that well-adapted viruses have evolved to open.
Dr. Peter Sudmant and Michael Singer: Bat Immune Systems and Pandemic Prevention
Sudmant, a genome scientist and expert in computational biology, and Ph.D. candidate Michael Singer are utilizing advanced long-read sequencing to decode the unique and “extreme” immune systems of bats. The project examines how recent large-scale structural rearrangements and gene duplications in the bat genome allow these animals to harbor deadly viruses without getting sick. By characterizing these innate immune responses, the research provides vital data for predicting and preventing future bat-borne viral spillover into human populations.
Dr. Dipti Nayak and Madison Williams: Methanovirus Lifecycle Choices
Nayak, a microbiologist and geneticist, and Ph.D. candidate Madison Williams are researching the predators of methane-producing microorganisms, known as methanoviruses, which remain largely misunderstood. The team is investigating the genetic “switches” and environmental cues that cause these viruses to either stay dormant or kill their hosts. This fundamental biology project is critical because understanding these interactions could eventually lead to new methods for attenuating global methane emissions.
About the W. M. Keck Foundation
The W. M. Keck Foundation was established in 1954 in Los Angeles by William Myron Keck, founder of The Superior Oil Company. One of the nation’s largest philanthropic organizations, the W. M. Keck Foundation supports outstanding science, engineering and medical research. The Foundation also supports undergraduate education and maintains a program within Southern California to support arts and culture, education, health and community service projects.
