Read about how bacteria could be used to clean up radioactive and nuclear waste sites.

Career

Learn how bacteria can help clean up nuclear waste.

Read an article about astrobiologist Dr. Andrew Steele's work and what they found out about the meteorites from Mars.

Learn more about evidence of life on Mars.

Read about NASA's different Mars missions and see high resolution images from the surface of the planet.

Learn more about Mars.

Research or study basic principles of plant and animal life, such as origin, relationship, development, anatomy, and functions.

Investigative occupations frequently involve working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. These occupations can involve searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally.

Investigative

Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.

Realistic

Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.

Conventional

Enterprising occupations frequently involve starting up and carrying out projects. These occupations can involve leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business.

Enterprising

First Interest High-Point

Artistic occupations frequently involve working with forms, designs and patterns. They often require self-expression and the work can be done without following a clear set of rules.

Artistic

Social occupations frequently involve working with, communicating with, and teaching people. These occupations often involve helping or providing service to others.

Social

Second Interest High-Point

Third Interest High-Point

Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed

Biologists

Develop and maintain liaisons and effective working relations with groups and individuals, agencies, and the public to encourage cooperative management strategies or to develop information and interpret findings.

Program and use computers to store, process, and analyze data.

Collect and analyze biological data about relationships among and between organisms and their environment.

Study aquatic plants and animals and environmental conditions affecting them, such as radioactivity or pollution.

Communicate test results to state and federal representatives and general public.

Identify, classify, and study structure, behavior, ecology, physiology, nutrition, culture, and distribution of plant and animal species.

Represent employer in a technical capacity at conferences.

Plan and administer biological research programs for government, research firms, medical industries, or manufacturing firms.

Research environmental effects of present and potential uses of land and water areas, determining methods of improving environmental conditions or such outputs as crop yields.

Measure salinity, acidity, light, oxygen content, and other physical conditions of water to determine their relationship to aquatic life.

Teach or supervise students and perform research at universities and colleges.

Supervise biological technicians and technologists and other scientists.

Study basic principles of plant and animal life, such as origin, relationship, development, anatomy, and function.

Study and manage wild animal populations.

Prepare requests for proposals or statements of work.

Prepare plans for management of renewable resources.

Develop methods and apparatus for securing representative plant, animal, aquatic, or soil samples.

Study reactions of plants, animals, and marine species to parasites.

Develop pest management and control measures, and conduct risk assessments related to pest exclusion, using scientific methods.

Prepare technical and research reports, such as environmental impact reports, and communicate the results to individuals in industry, government, or the general public.

Review reports and proposals, such as those relating to land use classifications and recreational development, for accuracy, adequacy, or adherence to policies, regulations, or scientific standards.

Write grant proposals to obtain funding for biological research.

Agar plates

Automated microscopes

Automatic pipetters

Benchtop centrifuges

Benchtop lyophilizers

Bioreactors

Biosafety cabinets

Bunsen burners

Carbolite ovens

Centrifugal evaporators

Conductivity meters

Deoxyribonucleic acid DNA sequencers

Desktop computers

Digestion units

Digital cameras

Dip nets

Dissecting microscopes

Distillation units

Electron microscopes

Electronic precision balances

Electrophoresis chambers

Erlenmeyer flasks

Fermenters

Fluid scintillation counters

Fluorescence microscopes

French presses

Fume hoods

Gas autoclaves

Gas chromatographs GC

General purpose laboratory test tubes

Glass beakers

Glass burets

Glass graduated cylinders

Glass washers

Global positioning system GPS receivers

Handheld digital thermometers

Heated magnetic stirrers

Heated stir plates

High pressure liquid chromatograph HPLC equipment

Homogenizers

Inoculating loops

Inverted compound microscopes

Laboratory analytical balances

Laboratory bulb syringes

Laboratory dropping pipettes

Laboratory forceps

Laboratory funnels

Laboratory hot plates

Laboratory microwave ovens

Laminar flow cabinets

Laptop computers

Liquid handling robots

Luminometers

Mainframe computers

Mechanical laboratory incubators

Mercury barometers

Micropipettes

Microscope digital cameras

Microscope slides

Microtiter plate readers

Microtomes

Multiwell microplates

Navigational compasses

Optical compound microscopes

Orbital shaking water baths

Pasteur pipettes

Personal computers

Petri dishes

pH indicators

Phosporimagers

Plankton nets

Plastic cuvettes

Plastic laboratory tubing

Polymerase chain reaction PCR equipment

Portable dataloggers

Propane jet freezers

Refrigerated benchtop centrifuges

Respirometers

Safety glasses

Safety gloves

Safety goggles

Salinity meters

Scanning electron microscopes SEM

Scanning laser confocal microscopes

Scientific calculators

Shaking incubators

Sonicators

Specimen collection containers

Spectrophotometers

Spreading rods

Swinging bucket centrifuges

Test tube shakers

Tissue culture plates

Top-loading electronic balances

Transmission electron microscopes TEM

Triple beam balances

Ultracentrifuges

Ultramicrotomes

Ultraviolet UV transilluminators

Ultraviolet UV visible spectrophotometers

Astrobiologist

<p>Next stop is Washington, DC where the UK team interviews Frederick Gregory, Deputy Administrator for NASA. While in DC, the team has the opportunity to meet Dr. Andrew Steele, an astrobiologist who is proving the possibility of life on Mars. The team heads to Kentucky to interview journalist turned filmmaker Sonja Devries.</p>

Washington, D.C.

[MUSIC] I mean if I actually sat down and said that I planned any of this, I'd by lying through my teeth. This is just taking advantage of opportunities as they came up. This is my hobby, it's not my life. You know what I mean, it's not a job. This is everything I do, this is everything I think about, this and my family and that's it. In 96, this geyser from NASA thought he found life on Mars. I was just coming out of my PhD studentship and I'd done some high-powered imaging of bacteria. And then the BBC news broke that they found life on Mars, that this guy from NASA had got images of this, what he thought was a bacteria on the surface of that rock you'd just been looking at. Looked him up, phoned International Directory Enquiries, got the number, phoned Johnson Space Center, got his name, gave him a bell, and said I can get better images than that, mate. To cut a long story short, he sent me a bit of meteorite, so me and a couple of mates sat in a pub figuring out what to do with a piece of Mars right in the middle of the table. Going, Steele what have you done? I don't know, told them I could get better images and they said, what are we gonna do now? So we planned it out and got some good research done, and then they offered me a job. >> So, you rang him up and said, I can get better images? Did you know that you could, or were you just? >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> Yeah. Said this is nothing, mate. They'll have already done it. They'll have thought about this. They'll have done it it, mate. [LAUGH] You're having a giraffe. And so I phoned him up, I got the stuff back, they didn't believe me at all. >> Did that take guts to just ring him up? >> I don't think it does. I mean they go, who's speaking? Doctor Steele. >> [LAUGH] >> I only had my PhD for three weeks or something. I did my PhD in how microbes eat metals. To decontaminate nuclear structures of radioactivity by using bacteria. [NOISE] >> You've been doing that PhD with the hope that one day, you would stumble something that would possibly change the world, or that- >> No. >> You would discover, no? >> No, I mean, I'd always been interested in biology, but I never knew what to do with it so I just went back to give myself options. To keep doors, to open doors, so I did a degree in Biochem and microbiology. >> So you didn't know that you're gonna into this? >> None. >> From a young age? >> No, I had no idea what I was gonna do at all. >> What we think about that, about the fact that you know I do. >> I think it's normal. >> I sort of object to systems that pigeon hole you early on into saying you must decide now what you need to do, that's a load of bs. Never close doors. That's the only bit of wisdom, just don't close doors. Keep them open as wide as you can for as long as you can. >> You look really happy doing this. >> Yeah, you do. >> Yeah, I really enjoy it. I mean I get to think about life on another planets. I mean, my God, all my mates think that I have lived on another planet for years, so it's cool. >> If you could just offer one short piece of advice, just sum it all up for us and you could hand that over to people of our age, our generation, that are in this place where we just can't get our heads around the confusion that we got to deal with to where the hell are we gonna go? What would it be? >> First and foremost, you have the biggest gift already. You're alive. There's very very little difference between the atoms that make you up and this. Second thing is, this and you are all made of exploding stars. You're all star dust. We're all star dust. That's something to remember. The probability that that star dust turns into you is just ridiculous. So, with that in mind, life is a gift, and your life is a gift. No one has the right to tell you how to use that gift. No one has the right to try and place you into a mold, or into a position that they see is right for you. But you've already got the biggest gift there is. You're made of stars. 

Chance

Confidence

Hobbies & Pastimes

Opportunity

Perseverance

Planning

Societal Pressures

Values

Interview

You've been doing that PhD with the hope that one day you would stumble onto something that would possibly change the world. >> No. >> Or it would be your discovery, no? >> No, I mean I'd always been interested in biology but I never knew what to do with it. I went back just to give myself options, to keep doors open, to open doors. I did a degree in biochem and microbiology. >> You didn't know you were going to go into this? >> None. >> From a young age? >> No. I had no idea what I was gonna do at all. >> What do you think about that? The fact that you had no idea? >> I think it's normal. I object to systems that pigeonhole you, early on, into saying you must decide now what you need to do. That's a load of BS. Never close doors. That's the only bit of wisdom, just don't close doors. Keep them open as wide as you can for as long as you can. >> You look really happy doing this. >> You do. >> I really enjoy it. I get to think about life on other planets, I mean, my god. All my mates think I've lived on another planet for years, so it's cool. >> If you could just offer one short piece of advice, just sum it all up for us, and you could hand that over to people of our age, our generation, the error in this place where we just can get our heads around the confusion that we've got to deal with. Where the hell are we going to go? What would it be? >> First and foremost, you have the biggest gift already. You're alive. There's very, very little difference between the elements that make you up and this. Second thing is, this and you are all made of exploding stars. You're all stardust. We're all stardust. That's something to remember. The probability that that stardust turns into you is just ridiculous. With that in mind, life is a gift, then your life is a gift. No one has the right to tell you how to use that gift and no one has the right to try and place you into a mold or into a position that they see is right for you. But you've already got the biggest gift there is, you're made of stars. 

Exploding Stardust

I mean if I actually sat down and said that I'd planned any of this, I'd be lying through my teeth. This is just taking advantage of opportunities as they came up. This is my hobby, it's not my life. You know what I mean? It's not a job, it's just, this is everything I do. It's everything I think about. This and my family and that's it. In 96, this geezer from Nassau thought he found life on Mars. I was just coming out of my PhD studentship, and I'd done some high powered imaging of bacteria. And then BBC News broke that they'd found life on Mars, that this guy from NASA had got images of this what he'd thought was a bacteria on the surface of that rock you've just been looking at. Looked him up, phoned international directory inquiries, got the number, found Johnson Space Center, got his name, gave him a bell and said that I can get better images than that, mate. Cut a long story short, he sent me a bit of meteorite. So me and a couple of mates sat in the pub figuring out what to do with this piece of Mars sat in the middle of the table going- >> [LAUGH] >> [INAUDIBLE] What have you done? I don't know, I told him I could get better images. Well what are you gonna do now? So we planned it out and got some good research done, and then they offered me a job. >> So. 

Piece Of Mars

You rang up and said, I can get better images. Did you know that you could or- >> Yeah. >> Was it just say, just okay. >> Yeah, and they all said, this is NASA, mate. They'll have already done it. They'll have thought about this. They'll have done it, mate, you're having a giraffe. And so, I phoned him up, I got the stuff back. They didn't believe me at all. >> Did that take got to just ring him up. >> I don't think he'd tell us. I mean I think it's go. Who's speaking? Doctor Steel. >> [LAUGH]. >> I've only got my PhD for three weeks or something. I did my PhD on how microbes eat metals to decontaminate nuclear structures of radioactive material by using bacteria. [NOISE] 

Guts and Microbes

[Andrew] [British accent] I was just coming out of my Ph.D. studentship, and, um, I had done some high priority imaging of bacteria.  And then the BBC News broke that they found life on Mars, that this guy from NASA had got, uh, images of this, what he thought was a bacteria on the surface of that rock you've just been looking at. Looked him up, ah, phoned international directory inquiries, got the number, phoned Johnson Space Center, got his name, gave him a bell and said, "I can get better images than that, "mate." Cut long story short, he sent me a bit of meteorite so me and a couple of mates sat in a pub figuring out what to do with this piece of Mars. So we planned it out and got some good research done. And then they offered me a job. I did my Ph.D. in how microbes eat metals, ah, to decontaminate nuclear structures of radioactivity by using bacteria. [snores] Life is a gift. And your life is a gift. No one has the right to tell you how to use that gift. 

Andrew Steele Highlight

There's a certain edge to doing this. I think I've grown into it. I don't think I had the abilities to start with, that I have now. I think I've grown into it. So maybe those abilities would never have shown themselves, if I'd stayed doing whatever I was doing and if I didn't push myself. Maybe I wouldn't have grown the way I think I have. Maybe I would've grown in other directions. Could be coming up and down the stage playing a guitar. Instead of standing on a podium going, yes, yes, my fault exactly, how cool. &gt;&gt; [LAUGH] &gt;&gt; Which is what I have to do. And so yeah, I don't know. I really don't know. Whatever I had a mate, right? He's a mechanic. This guy's amazing. His name's John. He used to get up at six o'clock in the morning. Bound out of bed, happy as a log. Straight into work fixing trucks for a living. That's what he did. Happy as a pig in poop the whole time. Worked overtime, came by. He used to envy. He loved it. Absolutely loved it. And I think if that's where you can be in life, then good on you, no matter what your doing. If you're [INAUDIBLE] cleaning out the sewers, or you're the head of NASA. It don't matter, if you're happy doing it, cool. And if you reach that in an early point in your life, cool. If you don't, if you reach it later in life, then you'll have a few tales to tell. 

Passion

Kewl

This is a very un-British question, but are you proud of yourself? &gt;&gt; I don't know. Sometimes. Other times, I wish I could be doing some else. &gt;&gt; Within microbiology. &gt;&gt; No, just like your questions early on. What would it have been like to have been in a band? I ask myself those questions quite a bit. Would I like to be doing this or would I like to be strolling the hills in the Lake District, with a small farm. I still haven't worked that one out. Probably never will, but I'm happy doing this. &gt;&gt; You look really happy doing this. &gt;&gt; I really enjoy it. It gets me up in the morning and I'll work til midnight, one, two just searching reading papers, seeing where the next load, chinks gonna come. I have to think about next analysis, next little thing to look at. Next little invention and its fun, I get to think about life on other planets I mean all my mates think I've lives on other planets for years, so its cool 

Fulfillment

Are You Proud Of Yourself?

Some of my colleagues, I mean, talk about being in high company. Paul Butler is here, who discovered the first extra solar planet with Jeff Macey. Vera Ruben, who's a very distinguished astronomer who discovered dark matter. Marylin, of course, who chemical carbon isotopes for life. Some of the older discoveries that the Carnegie's been involved with were, I think it's the third place to have split the atom, Einstein came here and visited. Bohr came here and visited, did some work. We had the people who modeled solar system formation processes how our solar system formed. They worked here. The grandson of Verne Von Brown, who put a man on the moon, he's next door. You know, the people that you mix with here are incredible. The science that's been done in this place is unbelievable and a lot of it is maverick science. It's blue sky science. It's a bunch of way out individuals. But, it's science that wouldn't normally have been funded. So, as far as planetary science goes, if you look at all the papers that were published in the 1990s by every institution in the world, The Carnegie Institution was first for impact of its journals. There is no place better to work. 

Education

The Carnegie Institute

You're gonna have to keep putting one foot in front of the other, and you're gonna have to look at yourself in the mirror 30 years down the line. I know those are very cliche statements, but it is true. You've no choice, absolutely no choice. No one's gonna give you anything. No one's you'll get opportunities but you have to make them. Somebody will give you something, a gift is the fact that a door opens. And then you've got to do something about it. And a lot of hard work later you can look back and think, yeah, that was a good one. Or a lot of hard work later it could be very frustrating and you didn't get anywhere. But, even with NAMS, you've still gotta put one foot in front of the other and look for the next opportunity, look for the next time to get out, and do what you wanna do, whatever that is. If it's a mechanic. If it's sheep herder. If it's factory worker, it don't matter. If you're happy with it, it's cool. You know, we're all the same. So your problems are your problems. You just get on and deal with it and put one foot in front of the other. Be gentle with yourself. Don't expect to get over things too quickly. 

Andrew Steele

Astrobiologist

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Andrew Steele

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