Dale Andersen

Deans Honors List (Top 10%), McGill University Graduates 2004;

United States Antarctic Service Medal; Fellow Member Explorers Club, FN1987;

NASA Group Achievement Award, Ames Mars Exploration Telepresence/Virtual Reality Team, 1995;

NASA Certificate of Appreciation for Contributions to the US/Soviet Telemedicine Space Bridge 1990;

Lockheed Engineering and Sciences Company, Tony Gross Award Nominee, 1991; Eagle Scout, Boy Scouts of America

• Discovery of large conical stromatolites in Lake Untersee, Antarctica
• Scientist Interview - Dale Andersen

Papers in the Archival Literature 

1.     Andersen, D. T., C. P. McKay, and V. Lagun. 2016. Lake Untersee, Antarctica Climate Data, Version 1. Boulder, Colorado USA. NSIDC: National Snow and Ice Data Center. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.5067/01U4L6KSRLFU. 


2.     Filippova, S. N., N. A. Surgucheva, V. V. Sorokin, V. N. Akimov, E. A. Karnysheva, A. V. Brushkov, D. Andersen, and V. F. Gal’chenko (2016), Bacteriophages in Arctic and Antarctic Low-Temperature Systems, Microbiology, 85(3), 359-366, doi:10.1134/S0026261716030048.

3.     Sumner, D. Y., A. D. Jungblut, I. Hawes, D. T. Andersen, T. Mackey, and K. Wall (2016), Growth of Elaborate Microbial Pinnacles in Lake Vanda, Antarctica, Geobiology, Accepted for publication in Geobiology, April 22, 2016.

4.     Sobron, P., and D. T. Andersen (2016), Raman spectroscopy in the Arctic and Antarctic: Habitability and biosignature preservation in cold springs and paleolakes, in XIIth International GeoRaman Conference edited, Novosibirsk, Russia.

5.     Koo, H., J. A. Hakim, P. R. E. Fisher, A. Grueneberg, D. T. Andersen, and A. K. Bej (2016), Distribution of cold adaptation proteins in microbial mats in Lake Joyce, Antarctica: Analysis of metagenomic data by using two bioinformatics tools, Journal of Microbiological Methods, 120, 23-28, doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mimet.2015.11.008.

6.     Koo, H., J. A. Hakim, P. R. E. Fisher, A. Grueneberg, D. T. Andersen, and A. K. Bej (2016), Distribution of cold adaptation proteins in microbial mats in Lake Joyce, Antarctica: Analysis of metagenomic data by using two bioinformatics tools, Journal of Microbiological Methods, 120, 23-28, doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mimet.2015.11.008.

7.     Andersen, D. T., C. P. McKay, and V. Lagun (2015), Climate Conditions at Perennially Ice-Covered Lake Untersee, East Antarctica, Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology, 54(7), 1393-1412, doi:10.1175/jamc-d-14-0251.1.

8.     Steel, H. C. B., C. P. McKay, and D. T. Andersen (2015), Modeling circulation and seasonal fluctuations in perennially ice-covered and ice-walled Lake Untersee, Antarctica, Limnology and Oceanography, doi:10.1002/lno.10086.

9.     Mackey, T. J., D. Y. Sumner, I. Hawes, A. D. Jungblut, and D. T. Andersen (2015), Growth of modern branched columnar stromatolites in Lake Joyce, Antarctica, Geobiology, doi:10.1111/gbi.12138. 

10.  Zhang, L., A. D. Jungblut, I. Hawes, D. T. Andersen, D. Y. Sumner, and T. J. Mackey (2015), Cyanobacterial diversity in benthic mats of the McMurdo Dry Valley lakes, Antarctica, Polar Biology, 1-14, doi:10.1007/s00300-015-1669-0.

11.  Koo, H., T. Ptacek, M. Crowley, A. K. Swain, J. D. Osborne, A. K. Bej, and D. T. Andersen (2014), Draft Genome Sequence of Hymenobacter sp. Strain IS2118, Isolated from a Freshwater Lake in Schirmacher Oasis, Antarctica, Reveals Diverse Genes for Adaptation to Cold Ecosystems, Genome Announcements, 2(4), doi:10.1128/genomeA.00739-14.

12.  Huang, J.P., Swain, A.K., Andersen, D.T., Bej, A.K. (2014). Bacterial diversity within five unexplored freshwater lakes interconnected by surface channels in East Antarctic Dronning Maud Land (Schirmacher Oasis) using amplicon pyrosequencing. Polar Biol
DOI 10.1007/s00300-013-1436-z

13.  Karanovic, T., Gibson, J.A.E., Hawes, I., Andersen, D.T., and Stevens, M.I. (2013). An endemic cyclopoid copepod from Lake Joyce challenges our understanding of McMurdo Dry Valley biodiversity. Antarctic Science. Available on CJO2013. doi:10.1017/S0954102013000643.

14.  Mojib, N., Farhoomand, A., Andersen, D., and Bej, A. (2013). UV and cold tolerance of a pigment-producing Antarctic Janthinobacterium sp. Ant5-2. Extremophiles 17, 367-378.

15.  Marinova, M.M., McKay, C.P., Pollard, W.H., Heldmann, J.L., Davila, A.F., Andersen, D.T., Jackson, W.A., Lacelle, D., Paulsen, G., and Zacny, K. (2013). Distribution of depth to ice-cemented soils in the high-elevation Quartermain Mountains, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica. Antarctic Science FirstView, 1-8.

16.  Huang, J., Swain, A., Thacker, R., Ravindra, R., Andersen, D., and Bej, A. (2013). Bacterial diversity of the rock-water interface in an East Antarctic freshwater ecosystem, Lake Tawani(P)†. Aquatic Biosystems 9, 4. doi:10.1186/2046-9063-9-4.

17.  Filippova, S., N. Surgucheva, E. Kulikov, V. Sorokin, V. Akimov, A. Bej, C. McKay, D. Andersen, and V. Galchenko (2013), Detection of phage infection in the bacterial population of Lake Untersee (Antarctica), Microbiology, 82(3), 383-386.

18.  Hawes, I., Sumner, D., Andersen, D., Jungblut, A., and Mackey, T. (2013). Timescales of Growth Response of Microbial Mats to Environmental Change in an Ice-Covered Antarctic Lake. Biology 2, 151-176.

19.  Christopher P. McKay, C.R.S., Brian J. Glass, Arwen I. Davé, Alfonso F. Davila, Jennifer L. Heldmann, Margarita M. Marinova, Alberto G. Fairen, Richard C. Quinn, Kris A. Zacny, Gale Paulsen, Peter H. Smith, Victor Parro, Dale T. Andersen, Michael H. Hecht, Denis Lacelle, and Wayne H. PollarD. (2013). The Icebreaker Life Mission to Mars: A Search for Biomolecular Evidence for Life. Astrobiology 13, 334-353.

20.  Heldmann, J.L., Marinova, M., Williams, K.E., Lacelle, D., Mckay, C.P., Davila, A., Pollard, W., and Andersen, D.T. (2012). Formation and evolution of buried snowpack deposits in Pearse Valley, Antarctica, and implications for Mars. Antarctic Science 24, 299-316.

21.  Huang, J., Mojib, N., Goli, R., Watkins, S., Waites, K., Ravindra, R., Andersen, D., and Bej, A. (2012). Antimicrobial activity of PVP from an Antarctic bacterium, Janthinobacterium sp. Ant5-2, on multi-drug and methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Nat Prod Bioprospect 2, 104-110.

22.  Schulze-Makuch, D., Head, J.N., Houtkooper, J.M., Knoblauch, M., Furfaro, R., Fink, W., Fairén, A.G., Vali, H., Kelly Sears, S., Daly, M., Deamer, D., Schmidt, H., Hawkins, A.R., Sun, H.J., Lim, D.S.S., Dohm, J., Irwin, L.N., Davila, A.F., Mendez, A., and Andersen, D. (2012). The Biological Oxidant and Life Detection (BOLD) mission: A proposal for a mission to Mars. Planetary and Space Science 67, 57-69.

23.  Andersen, D.T., Sumner, D.Y., Hawes, I., Webster-Brown, J., and McKay, C.P. (2011). Discovery of large conical stromatolites in Lake Untersee, Antarctica. Geobiology 9, 280-293.

24.  Hawes, I., Sumner, D.Y., Andersen, D.T., and Mackey, T.J. (2011). Legacies of recent environmental change in the benthic communities of Lake Joyce, a perennially ice-covered Antarctic lake. Geobiology 9, 394-410.

25.  Lacelle, D., Davila, A., Pollard, W., Andersen, D., Heldmann, J., Marinova, M., and McKay, C. (2011). Stability of massive ground ice bodies in University Valley, McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica: Using stable O-H isotope as tracers of sublimation in hyper-arid regions. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 301, 403-411.

26.  Lim, D.S., Brady, A., Abercromby, A., Andersen, D., Andersen, M., Arnold, R., Bird, J., Bohm, H., Booth, L., and Cady, S. (2011). A historical overview of the Pavilion Lake Research Project—Analog science and exploration in an underwater environment. Geological Society of America Special Papers 483, 85-115.

27.  Mojib, N., Andersen, D.T., and Bej, A.K. (2011). Structure and function of a cold shock domain fold protein, CspD in Janthinobacterium sp. Ant5-2 from East Antarctica. FEMS Microbiology Letters, 319: 106–114. doi: 10.1111/j.1574-6968.2011.02269.x

28.  Mojib, N., Nasti, T.H., Andersen, D.T., Attigada, V.R., Hoover, R.B., Yusuf, N., and Bej, A.K. (2011). The antiproliferative function of violacein-like purple violet pigment (PVP) from an Antarctic Janthinobacterium sp. Ant5-2 in UV-induced 2237 fibrosarcoma. International Journal of Dermatology 50, 1223-1233.

29.  Brady, A., Slater, G., Omelon, C., Southam, G., Druschel, G., Andersen, D., Hawes, I., Laval, B., and Lim, D. (2010b). Photosynthetic isotope biosignatures in laminated micro-stromatolitic and non-laminated nodules associated with modern, freshwater microbialites in Pavilion Lake, BC. Chemical Geology.

30.  Cabrol N. A., D. T. Andersen, C. R. Stoker, P. Lee, C. P. McKay, and D. S. Wettergreen. (2010). Chapter 10: Other Analogs to Mars: High altitude, subsurface, desert, and polar environments. In: Life in Antarctic Deserts and other Cold Dry Environments: Astrobiological Analogues, Peter T. Doran, W. Berry Lyons, and Diane M. McKinght, (Eds.), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge Astrobiology, NY, 258-305.

31.  Fairen, A.G., Davila, A.F., Lim, D., Bramall, N., Bonaccorsi, R., Zavaleta, J., Uceda, E.R., Stoker, C., Wierzchos, J., Dohm, J.M., Amils, R., Andersen, D., and McKay, C.P. (2010). Astrobiology through the Ages of Mars: The Study of Terrestrial Analogues to Understand the Habitability of Mars. Astrobiology 10, 821-843.

32.  Lim, D., Warman, G., Gernhardt, M., Mckay, C., Fong, T., Marinova, M., Davila, A., Andersen, D., Brady, A., Cardman, Z., Cowie, B., Delaney, M., Fairen, A., Forrest, A., Heaton, J., Laval, B., Arnold, R., Nuytten, P., Osinski, G., Reay, M., Reid, D., Schulze-Makuch, D., Shepard, R., Slater, G., and Williams, D. (2010). Scientific field training for human planetary exploration. Planetary and Space Science 58, 920-930.

33.  Niederberger, T.D., Perreault, N.N., Tille, S., Lollar, B.S., Lacrampe-Couloume, G., Andersen, D., Greer, C.W., Pollard, W., and Whyte, L.G. (2010). Microbial characterization of a subzero, hypersaline methane seep in the Canadian High Arctic. ISME J 4, 1326-1339.

34.  Lim, D., Laval, B., Slater, G., Antoniades, D., Forrest, A., Pike, W., Pieters, R., Saffari, M., Reid, D., Schulze-Makuch, D., Andersen, D., and Mckay, C. (2009). Limnology of Pavilion Lake, B. C., Canada - Characterization of a microbialite forming environment. Fundamental and Applied Limnology 173, 329-351.

35.  Marinova, M., Laval, B., McKay, C., Shepard, R., Lim, D., Forrest, A., Andersen, D., Arnold, R., Brady, A., and Cardman, Z. (2009). Physical influences on microbialite morphological variation and distribution in Pavilion Lake, British Columbia, Canada. AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts 1, 0320.

36.  Mojib, N., Huang, J., Hoover, R.B., Pikuta, E.V., Storrie-Lombardi, M., Sattler, B., Andersen, D., and Bej, A.K. (2009). Diversity of bacterial communities in the lakes of Schirmacher Oasis, Antarctica. Paper presented at: SPIE Optical Engineering+ Applications (International Society for Optics and Photonics).

37.  Niederberger, T.D., Perreault, N.N., Lawrence, J.R., Nadeau, J.L., Mielke, R.E., Greer, C.W., Andersen, D.T., and Whyte, L.G. (2009). Novel sulfur-oxidizing streamers thriving in perennial cold saline springs of the Canadian high Arctic. Environ Microbiol 11, 616-629.

38.  Pollard, W., Haltigin, T., Whyte, L., Niederberger, T., Andersen, D., Omelon, C., Nadeau, J., Ecclestone, M., and Lebeuf, M. (2009). Overview of analogue science activities at the McGill Arctic Research Station, Axel Heiberg Island, Canadian High Arctic. Planetary and Space Science 57, 646-659.

39.  Andersen, D. T. (2008), Life Under the Arctic Ice, in Ocean: An Illustrated Atlas, by S. A. Earle and L. K. GLover, p. 352, National Geographic, United States. 

40.  Perreault, N.N., Greer, C.W., Andersen, D.T., Tille, S., Lacrampe-Couloume, G., Lollar, B.S., and Whyte, L.G. (2008). Heterotrophic and autotrophic microbial populations in cold perennial springs of the high arctic. Appl Environ Microbiol 74, 6898-6907.

41.  Antoniades, D., Crawley, C., Douglas, M., Pienitz, R., Andersen, D., Doran, P., Hawes, I., Pollard, W., and Vincent, W. (2008). L08702-Reply to comment by K. Gajewski on" Abrupt environmental change in Canada's northernmost lake"(DOI 10.1029/2007GL032889). Geophysical Research Letters 35.

42.  Andersen, D.T., 2007, Antarctic inland waters: scientific diving in the perennially ice-covered lakes of the McMurdo Dry Valleys and Bunger Hills, in Lang, M.A., and Sayer, M.D.J., eds., International Polar Diving Workshop: Svalbard, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, p. 213.

43.  Antoniades, D., Crawley, C., Douglas, M., Pienitz, R., Andersen, D., Doran, P., Hawes, I., Pollard, W., and Vincent, W. (2007). Abrupt environmental change in Canadaís northernmost lake inferred from fossil diatom and pigment stratigraphy. Geophysical Research Letters 34, 1-L18708.

44.  Forrest, A., Bohm, H., Laval, B., Reid, D., Andersen, D., Magnusson, E., and Doble, M. (2007). Small AUV deployment under ice: Pavilion lake, BC, Canada (a case study). Geophysical Research Abstracts 9, 08318.

45.  Perreault, N.N., Andersen, D.T., Pollard, W.H., Greer, C.W., and Whyte, L.G. (2007). Characterization of the prokaryotic diversity in cold saline perennial springs of the Canadian high Arctic. Appl Environ Microbiol 73, 1532-1543.

46.  Omelon, C. R., W. H. Pollard, and D. T. Andersen (2006), A geochemical evaluation of perennial spring activity and associated mineral precipitates at Expedition Fjord, Axel Heiberg Island, Canadian High Arctic, Applied geochemistry, 21(1), 1-15.

47.  Heldmann, J. L., O. B. Toon, W. H. Pollard, M. T. Mellon, J. Pitlick, C. P. McKay, and D. T. Andersen (2005), Formation of Martian gullies by the action of liquid water flowing under current Martian environmental conditions, J. Geophys. Res., 110, E05004, doi:10.1029/2004JE002261.

48.  Heldman, J.L., W.H. Pollard, C.P. McKay, D.T. Andersen, and O.B. Toon, Annual development cycle of an icing deposit and associated perennial spring activity on Axel Heiberg Island, Canadian High Arctic, Arctic, Antarctic and Alpine Research, 37 (1), 2005.

49.  Andersen, D. T. Perennial springs in the Canadian High Arctic, PhD Thesis, McGill University, Montreal, CA. 2004

50.  Doran, P.T., J.C. Priscu, W.B. Lyons, R.D. Powell, D.T. Andersen and R.J. Poreda.  2004.  Paleolimnology of extreme cold terrestrial and extraterrestrial environments.  In R. Pienitz, M.S.V. Douglas and J.P. Smol (eds).  Long-Term Environmental Change in Arctic and Antarctic Lakes.  Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, The Netherlands.

51.  McKay, C., Andersen, D., Pollard, W.H., Heldmann, J., Doran, P., Fritsen, C., Priscu, J., (2004) Polar Lakes, Streams, and Springs as Analogs for the Hydrological Cycle on Mars. In Water on Mars and Life, edited by T. Tokano, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 219-233.

52.  McKay, C.P., E.I. Friedmann, B. Gomez-Silva, L. Caceres-Villanueva, D.T. Andersen, and R. Landheim, Temperature and moisture conditions for life in the extreme arid region of the Atacama Desert: Four years of observations including the El Nino of 1997-98, Astrobiology, 3, 393-406, 2003.

53.  McKay, C.P., K.P. Hand, P.T. Doran, D.T. Andersen, and J.C. Priscu, Clathrate formation and the fate of noble and biologically useful gases in Lake Vostok, Antarctica. Geophys. Res. Lett., 30, 10.1029/2003GL017490, 2003.

54.  Hawes I, D.T. Andersen, W. H. Pollard, Submerged aquatic bryophytes in Colour Lake, a naturally acidic polar lake. Arctic Vol. 55, No. 4. 2002.

55.  Gibson, J., and D. Andersen, Physical structure of epishelf lakes of the southern Bunger Hills, East Antarctica, Antarctic Science, 14 (3), 253-262, 2002.

56.  Andersen, D.T., W.H. Pollard, C.P. McKay, and J. Heldmann, Cold springs in permafrost on Earth and Mars, Journal of Geophysical Research, 107 (3), 4, 2002.

57.  Cogley, J.G., M.A. Ecclestone and D.T. Andersen, Melt duration on glaciers: environmental controls examined with orbiting radar, Eastern Snow Conference Proceedings, 58, 171-186, 2001.

58.  Cogley, J.G., M.A. Ecclestone, and D.T. Andersen, Melting on glaciers: environmental controls examined with orbiting radar, Hydrological Processes, 15 (18), 3541-3558, 2001.

59.  McKnight, D. M., E. W. Boyer. P. Doran, P.K. Westehoff, T. Kulbe, D. Andersen. Spectrofluorometric characterization of dissolved organic matter for indication of precursor organic material and aromaticity.  Limnology and Oceanography. Vol. 46, No. 1., p. 38-48, 2001.

60.  Doran, P.T., R. A. Wharton, W.B. Lyons, D. J. DesMarais, D. T. Andersen. Sedimentology and Isotopic Geochemistry of a Perennially Ice-Covered Epishelf Lake in Bunger Hills Oasis, East Antarctica. Antarctic Science, 12 (2) 131-140, 2000.

61.  Kepner, R., Jr., A. Kortyna, R.W. Wharton, Jr., P. Doran, D. Andersen, and E. Roberts, Effects of research diving on a stratified Antarctic lake, Water Research, 34 (1), 71-84, 2000.

62.  Pollard, W.H., C. Omelon, D.T. Andersen, and C.P. McKay, Perennial spring occurrence in the Expedition Fiord area of Western Axel Heiberg Island, Canadian High Arctic, Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 36, 105-120, 1999

63.  Andersen, D.T., C.P. McKay, and J. R. A. Wharton, Dissolved gases in perennially ice-covered Antarctic lakes of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctic Science, 10 (2), 124-133, 1998.

64.  Doran, P.T., C.P. McKay, M.A. Meyer, D. T. Andersen, R.A. Wharton, Jr. and J.T. Hastings, Climatology and implications for perennial lake ice occurrence at Bunger Hills, East Antarctica. Antarctic Science, 8 (3):289-296, 1996.

65.  Andersen, D.T., P. Doran, D. Bolshiyanov, J. Rice, V. Galchenko, N. Chernych, R.A. Wharton, Jr., C.P. McKay, M. Meyer, V. Garshnek,  A preliminary comparison of two perennially ice-covered lakes in Antarctica:  analogs of past Martian lacustrine environments. Adv. Space Res. Vol. 15, No. 3, 199-202, 1995.

66.  Galchenko,V., D. Bolshiyanov, D. Andersen, N. Chernykh, Bacterial processes of photo and chemosynthesis in Bunger Hills lakes, East Antarctica “Mikrobiologija” Vol. 64, No. 5, 1995.

67.  McKay, C.P., G.D. Clow, D.T. Andersen, R.A.Wharton, Light transmission and reflection in perennially ice-covered Lake Hoare, Antarctica, J. Geophys. Res., Vol. 99, C10, 20,427-20,444, 1995.

68.  Wharton, R.A., C.P. McKay, G.D. Clow, D.T. Andersen, Perennial ice covers and their influence on Antarctic lake ecosystems, in Physical and Biogeochemical Processes in Antarctic Lakes, Antarctic Res. Ser. vol. 59, edited by W. Green and E.I. Friedmann, American Geophysical Union, Washington, D.C., 53-70, 1993.

69.  Wharton, R.A., C.P. McKay, G.D. Clow, D.T. Andersen, G.M. Simmons, and F.G. Love, Changes in ice cover thickness and lake level of Lake Hoare, Antarctica: Implications for local climate change, J. Geophys. Res., 97, 3503-3513, 1992.

70.  Andersen, D.T., C.P. McKay, R.A. Wharton, Jr., and J. Rummel, Testing a Mars Science Outpost in the Antarctic Dry Valleys, Adv. Space Res., vol. 12 (5 )1992, p. 205-209.

71.  Stoker, C.R., C.P. McKay, R. Haberle, D. T. Andersen, Science Strategy for human exploration of Mars, Adv. Space Res., vol. 12, (4) 1992.

72.  Andersen, D.T., C.P. McKay, R.A. Wharton, Jr., and J. Rummel,  An Antarctic Research Outpost as a Model for Planetary Exploration. Journal of the British Interplanetary Society 43, 499-504 1990.

73.  Simmons, G.M., Jr., R.A. Wharton, Jr., B.C. Parker, and D.T. Andersen. Preliminary observations on chlorophyll-a and ATP Levels In Antarctic and temperate lake sediments. Microbial Ecology  9:  123 - 135, 1983.

Dale’s research interests are with the origin, evolution and distribution of life in the universe and he has been involved with NASA’s Exobiology and Astrobiology programs since the mid 1980’s. He is interested in locating, characterizing and understanding environments where physical and chemical conditions approach or exceed the tolerances for life. This includes biogeochemical processes occurring in polar lakes, oceans, and springs, or in lithic environments such as sandstones or retrogressive thaw slumps harbouring massive ground ice. Of particular interest are the physical controls and ecological impacts that perennial ice-covers and thick continuous permafrost have on the structure and function of microbial ecosystems.