What on earth is Gaia?

(Or should we say who?)

Traditionally Gaia is the goddess of nature or the 'Earth Mother'. She symbolises nature's interdependence and harmony.

More recently she has lent her name to the 'Gaia Hypothesis' of James Lovelock and has become a symbol of our need to embark on a more sustainable and environmentally friendly path.

Here at Gaian Life we are not however advocates of simple 'reserve' style preservation/conservation. We aim to look at new ways to utilise and manage nature's bounty in order to bring the economy into ecology and promote a new way forward into a sustainable future.

Today's science and technology is still very primitive, when compared to the 'technology' employed by life forms we share this planet with. We are only at the dawn of comprehension of the levels of sophistication and complexity which are the very stuff of the biosphere we emerge from. The dynamics and engineering we are discovering in nature boggles the mind in its inventiveness, subtlety and effectiveness.

In order to forge a way into the future, we at Gaian Life believe that we need to look to nature's systems and learn how to use this planets vast resources profitably rather than simply pillaging the land and destroying many of its untapped resources in the process.

Our slogan "Wisdom of the Ages, Knowledge for the Future" recognises the important role that historical cultures and indigenous people's have in providing methods of living sustainably on our planet. Gaian Life aims to support not only natural biodiversity but also global cultures in keeping with nature's ethos of stability through diversity.

Our cultural vision is based on the following statement:

"In order for there to be a `rich' there must be a `poor. If I wish to help the poor I must acknowledge that I no longer wish to be rich in the material sense. I no longer wish to sit in the lap of luxury whilst all across the world countless millions work as unseen slaves in dire poverty on my behalf."

Gaian Life is founded and run by Dr.H.Marshall in order to utilise current scientific knowledge on environmental sustainability and also to encourage further environmental research and eco-friendly product development.

Dr. Helen L. Marshall (BSc. Hons, MSc. Ph.D)

2002-2006 Research Assistant Professor - Biophysical & Chemical Ecology

Plant/algal pigment & phytochemical analyst for the US Atlantic Coast Environmental Indicators Consortium (ACE-InC) an Environmental Protection Agency-Science To Achieve Results (EPA STAR) research program.

Developed remote sensing pigment indicators of salt marsh plant health, focusing on plant biochemicals and the xanthophylls pigments (http://www.aceinc.org/aceinc_3.pdf ).

Provided additional research on the Coastal Wetland Indicators (CWI) project, US Geological Survey sediment accretion project and ongoing Long Term Ecological Research projects (LTER, LTREB).

Techniques developed included High Purification Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), Hyperspectral Imagery (AISA), GER spectroradiometry, Cryo extraction and preservation, Pulse Amplitude Modulation (PAM) flourimetry, infra-red temperature probes, sediment elevation (SET measurements), pore-water analysis, plant biomass analysis (above and below ground).

Conducted intensive field work focusing on coastal marshes on the USA East coast and Gulf of Mexico.

Formed collaborations with a number of additional airborne hyperspectral projects with reciprocal data exchange (e.g. US Estuarine And Great Lakes research (EAGLES), Gulf of Mexico Ecological Research (CEERGOM) http://www.coms.usm.edu/ceer/index.html, South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) http://www.dnr.state.sc.us).

1997-2001 Ph.D Research: Photophysiology and Plant Bio-optical Mathematical Modeling

University of Wales - Swansea / Marine Biological Association UK - Plymouth / John Tabor Laboratories, University of Essex - Colchester / Plymouth Marine Laboratories - Plymouth.

Performed physiological investigations into the responses of marine phytoplankton undergoing subsaturating, saturating and excess photon flux density under varying nutrient regimes and in the presence of herbicide/pesticide toxins.

Tested and compared responses of current mathematical photoacclimation models of varying complexity under various environmental scenarios.

Developed dynamic mechanistic mathematical models of photodamage, xanthophyll pigment cycling in higher plants and green algae.

Performed research into the diatoxanthin cycle found marine phytoplankton.

Performed experimental investigations into the nature of the photoinhibition phenomenon using cell count, microscopy, nutrient analysis, PAM fluorescence, spectrophotometry, 14C uptake, Oxygen electrode and HPLC techniques.

Supervisors - Prof. R. Geider (John Tabor Laboratories), Dr K. Flynn (UW Swansea)

1995-1996 MSc. Environmental Biology

University of Wales - Swansea

MSc. Research Project:

Analysed Emiliana huxleyi, Thalasiossira weisflogii & Heterosigma carterae, grown on ammonium and nitrate under Fe (iron) replete and Fe deplete conditions.

Performed cell culturing, growth rate & biovolume analysis, measurement of nitrate and ammonium uptake rates, determination of cellular C:N Chl:C ratios.

Prepared and analysed samples for mass spectrometer, ELZONE, scanning spectrophotometer and ALPKEM equipment.

Supervisor - Dr. K. Flynn

Study Areas - Environmental degradation, Entomology and disease vectors, Environmental quality, Natural resources, Human & Environmental toxicology, Plant ecology & disease, Ecological techniques, Fungal microbiology, Algal Microbiology, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Behavioral ecology, Tropical pests and diseases, Oceanography, Intertidal ecology, Pelagic ecology, Coastal Conservation, Statistics and data analysis, Biogeography.

1992-1995 BSc (Hons) Biological Sciences (Environmental)

University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham.

Honors Research - A physiological and ultrastructural investigation into the taxonomy of three subcultures of the thermophilic acidophilic microorganism Cyanidium.

Devised fixation methods and analysed samples using a JOEL 1200 EX transmission electron microscope.

Performed absorbance analysis using a spectrophotometer.

Performed and devised cell culturing techniques.

Designed and conducted salt (NaCl) tolerance and nutrient uptake experiments on a variety of specially designed experimental media.

Supervisor - Dr. M. E. Callow

Degree Course Dissertation - Gaia, Science or Myth?

A critique of the `GAIA' theory as proposed by J. Lovelock.

Supervisor - Dr. D. A. Wilkins

Study Areas - Biochemistry, Plant/environment interactions, Biochemical ecology & systematics, Plant ecology, Quiescent & Post Harvest plant disease, Adaptive variation & environmental physiology, Biodiversity, Population biology (animal & plant), Fungal Algal & Bacterial microbiology, Evolutionary biology, Genetics & gene manipulation, Physiological basis of animal behavior, Comparative physiology of animal senses, Pests & diseases of animals, Cell biology, Embryology, Animal physiology, Anatomy , Statistical analysis.

Additional:

Taught yearly undergraduate and post-graduate statistics and data analysis course, undergraduate computing and computer modeling course, practical demonstrations and undergraduate field courses in algal and fungal microbiology, practical demonstrations and field study techniques in undergraduate ecological methods course.

Metadata web manager for ACE-InC part of the EPA (EaGles project).

Presented research at many large scientific meetings (e.g. ASLO annual meeting, British Phycological Society etc).

Research project supervision for undergraduate final year students (modeling and data analysis), MSc. and Ph.D. Students (salt marsh ecology -field work assistance and data interpretation).

Private tutoring in ecology, plant physiology, statistics and data analysis for undergraduate students.

4.5 years field work experience (hot, humid, muddy and many insects ).

11+ years laboratory experience (sterile techniques, algal culture, flow cytometry, HPLC, water analysis, mass spectrometry, spectrophotometry, PAM fluorimetry, cryo procedures, pigment extraction, CHN analysis, preparing and examining samples using JOEL transmission electron microscope).

Computer programming and web site development. PC construction, maintenance and upgrading.

Publications

Marshall, HL Geider, RJ & Flynn, KJ (2000) A mechanistic model of photoinhibition. New Phytol. 145 (2) pp347-359.

Flynn, KJ Marshall, HL & Geider RJ (2001) A comparison of two N-irradiance interaction models of phytoplankton growth. Limnol. Oceanogr Vol.46 (7) pp1794-1802.

Marshall, HL. Geider, R & Morris, JT. (2005) A dynamic, mechanistic model of the 3-step xanthophyll cycle (violaxanthin, antheraxanthin & zeaxanthin), and its effects on non-photochemical quenching. (In Submission).

Publications in Preparation

Marshall, H.L. & Morris, J.T. A remote sensing Indicator of Environmental/Habitat Health in East Coast USA salt marshes, plant identification by Neural Net and stress prediction.

Marshall, H.L. & Morris, J.T. Techniques for pigment analysis in lignaceous grass species

Marshall, H.L. & Morris, J.T. Photosynthetic cross-sections and competitive ability in four species of salt marsh plants (Spartina alterniflora/patens, phragmites and Juncus roemerianus).

Marshall, H.L. Rodriguez, D. & Morris, J.T. Marsh platform elevation and its effects on pigment content.

Marshall, H.L. Morris & Sundberg Xanthophyll cycling, Leaf reflectance and hyperspectral remote sensing of Spartina alterniflora in ACE Basin South Carolina.

Marshall, H.L. Morris, J.T. & Schalles, J. Xanthophyll cycling, leaf reflectance and hyperspectral remote sensing of Juncus roemerianus in Grand Bay Mississippi.

Marshall, H.L. Morris, J.T. & Jensen, J. Xanthophyll cycling, Leaf reflectance and hyperspectral remote sensing of Spartina alterniflora in Murrel's Inlet, South Carolina.

Marshall, H.L. & Geider, R.J. Photoinhibition in three species of marine phytoplankton at a range of light intensities.

Marshall, H.L. & Geider, R.J. Photodamage repair and recovery from photoinhibition in three species of prymnesiophyte algae.

Marshall, H.L. & Geider, R.J. Xanthophyll cycling in prymnesiophyte phytoplankton species possessing diadinoxanthin and diatoxanthin.

Marshall, H.L Photosystem responses to short term light regimes in three species of prymnesiophyte algae.

Marshall, H.L., Geider, R.J & Morris, J. T. Effects of cellular pigments on primary productivity and competitive ability in situ: Pigments as ecosystem indicators.

Grants, Funding and Scholarship awards:

Swansea City Development: MSc. scholarship Award

Natural Environment Research Council: PhD scholarship Award

Marine Biological Association C.A.S.E Award: Industrial Scholarship for PhD research

US Environmental Protection Agency/ N.A.S.A: S.T.A.R (Science To Achieve Results) Grant R828677C003 for the Coastal Wetland Indicators subproject of the Estuarine and Great Lakes (EaGles), Atlantic Coast Environmental Indicators Consortium (ACE InC)

UnLtd Millennium Award for Social Entrepreneurs 2007