Roberto Frontera-Suau
Mentor: Dr. Pam Morris
Year Graduated: 2000
Academic/Degrees: University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez Campus B.S., University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus M.S.
Post Doctoral: Postdoctoral Fellow, NIH SPIRE Program, Department of Biology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Present Position: Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, Elizabeth City State University. Elizabeth City, N.C.
Thesis: Impact of Microbial Community Structure on Crude Oil Biodegradation.

Awards:1996. President’s Award for Outstanding Graduate Student Presentation. American Society for Microbiology, South Carolina Branch. Charleston, SC.
1998. Environmental Risk Assessment Graduate Student Research Fellowship Award. Medical University of South Carolina. Charleston, SC. Awarded by the Environmental Hazards Assessment Program in response to the proposal “Microbial Biodegradation of Biomarkers Employed in Crude Oil Degradation Ranking Systems”.
 

Publications:
Bost, F.D., R. Frontera-Suau, T.J. McDonald, K.E. Peters, and P.J. Morris. 2001. Aerobic biodegradation of hopanes and norhopanes in Venezuelan crude oils. Organic Geochemistry 32:105-114.
Norman, R.S., R. Frontera-Suau, and P.J. Morris. 2002. Variability in Pseudomonas aeruginosa lipopolysaccharide expression during crude oil degradation. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 68:5096-5103.
Frontera-Suau, R., F.D. Bost, T.J. McDonald, and P.J. Morris. 2002. Aerobic microbial degradation of hopanes and other biomarkers by crude oil-degrading cultures. Environmental Science & Technology 36:4578-4584.

Professional Memberships
Puerto Rico Society for Microbiology. Member since 1987.
American Society for Microbiology. Member since 1988.
Council on Undergraduate Research. Member since 1999.
Association of College and University Biology Educators. Member since 1999.