biology

Paula V. Welander

Paula V. Welander is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Paula V. Welander rather than just read about it. In short: Paula Veronica Welander is a microbiologist and professor at Stanford University who is known for her research using lipid biomarkers to investigate how life evolved on Earth. Early life and career Welander was born and raised in the San Fernando Valley, California.

Key takeaways

Paula V. Welander belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
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Reproduce the core statement of Paula V. Welander from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Paula Veronica Welander is a microbiologist and professor at Stanford University who is known for her research using lipid biomarkers to investigate how life evolved on Earth.

Early life and career Welander was born and raised in the San Fernando Valley, California. Her mother and father immigrated from Mexico to Los Angeles in the early 1970's. She received her undergraduate degree from Occidental College in Los Angeles in 1998. She has a master's degree (2003) and a Ph.D. (2007) from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She went on to do postdoctoral studies at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the Departments of Biology and of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences. Welander began her position at Stanford University in 2013, and was awarded tenure in 2019.

Research Welander's graduate research examined factors controlling the use of methane by a group of Archaea. For her postdoctoral research, she examined the production of a group of chemical compounds known as hopanoids. Welander has examined lipids in acid-loving archaea and how changes in the lipids alter a cell's ability to grow. Her research has further expanded our understanding of the organisms that produce triterpenoid lipids in aquatic environments. Her more recent research centers on lipids, known as glycerol dibiphytanyl glycerol tetraethers (GDGTs), that are found in archaeal cell walls. Collectively, her research on lipids can be used to characterize how microbial life on Earth has changed over time.

Honors and awards In 2018, Welander received the Geobiology and Geomicrobiology Division Award for Outstanding Research from the Geological Society of America. She also received a CAREER award from the National Science Foundation.

Selected publications Sessions, Alex L.; Doughty, David M.; Welander, Paula V.; Summons, Roger E.; Newman, Dianne K. (2009-07-28). "The Continuing Puzzle of the Great Oxidation Event". Current Biology. 19 (14): R567–R574. Bibcode:2009CBio...19.R567S. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2009.05.054. hdl:1721.1/96187. ISSN 0960-9822. PMID 19640495. S2CID 7346329. Welander, Paula V.; Hunter, Ryan C.; Zhang, Lichun; Sessions, Alex L.; Summons, Roger E.; Newman, Dianne K. (2009). "Hopanoids Play a Role in Membrane Integrity and pH Homeostasis in Rhodopseudomonas palustris TIE-1". Journal of Bacteriology. 191 (19): 6145–6156. doi:10.1128/JB.00460-09. ISSN 0021-9193. PMC 2747905. PMID 19592593. Welander, Paula V.; Coleman, Maureen L.; Sessions, Alex L.; Summons, Roger E.; Newman, Dianne K. (2010-05-11). "Identification of a methylase required for 2-methylhopanoid production and implications for the interpretation of sedimentary hopanes". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 107 (19): 8537–8542. Bibcode:2010PNAS..107.8537W. doi:10.1073/pnas.0912949107. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 2889317. PMID 20421508. Wei, Jeremy H.; Yin, Xinchi; Welander, Paula V. (2016). "Sterol Synthesis in Diverse Bacteria". Frontiers in Microbiology. 7: 990. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2016.00990. ISSN 1664-302X. PMC 4919349. PMID 27446030. Welander, Paula V.; Summons, Roger E. (2012-08-07). "Discovery, taxonomic distribution, and phenotypic characterization of a gene required for 3-methylhopanoid production". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 109 (32): 12905–12910. Bibcode:2012PNAS..10912905W. doi:10.1073/pnas.1208255109. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 3420191. PMID 22826256.

References

External links Paula V. Welander publications indexed by Google Scholar

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Paula V. Welander

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Paula V. Welander claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Paula V. Welander before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Paula V. Welander ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Paula V. Welander

In research: Paula V. Welander appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Paula V. Welander in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Paula V. Welander is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 21st-century American biologists, 21st-century American geologists, 21st-century American women biologists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Paula V. Welander outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Paula V. Welander in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Paula V. Welander means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Paula V. Welander out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Paula V. Welander in simple terms?

Paula Veronica Welander is a microbiologist and professor at Stanford University who is known for her research using lipid biomarkers to investigate how life evolved on Earth. Early life and career Welander was born and raised in the San Fernando Valley, California.

Why does Paula V. Welander matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Paula V. Welander?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Paula V. Welander.