I am a postdoctoral researcher in the Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology Department at UC Santa Barbara, working with Dr. Jean-Marie Volland. My research focuses on the sulfur-oxidizing bacterium Thiovulum, the fastest swimming bacterium known.

I am interested in microbes we cannot easily grow in pure culture, and in the techniques that let us study them anyway. My work combines single-cell methods such as Raman microspectroscopy, FISH, SIP-NanoSIMS, and correlative electron microscopy with the slow and patient work of cultivation, in cases where cultivation turns out to be possible after all.

I also build my own scientific instruments. Almost everything I use day to day for sample handling, custom microscopy, and field work is 3D printed, microcontroller-based, or both. Anything I build, I share openly.

George with his dog Ruger at the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest in California
Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, California, with Ruger

Current position

Postdoctoral Researcher, June 2024 to present Volland Lab, Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology Department University of California, Santa Barbara

Previous positions

Postdoctoral Researcher, January 2024 to June 2024 Hatzenpichler Lab, Chemistry and Biochemistry Department Montana State University

Quality Control Technician, July 2016 to July 2018 GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Pharmaceuticals, Microbiology Department, Hamilton MT

Education

PhD in Biochemistry, Montana State University, 2024 Molecular Bioscience Fellow, August 2018 to January 2024 Advisor, Dr. Roland Hatzenpichler Dissertation work on multicellular magnetotactic bacteria

BS in Microbial Biotechnology, Montana State University, 2014 Minors in Biochemistry and Astrobiology Undergraduate research with Dr. Dave Ward on photosynthetic bacteria in Yellowstone hot springs

Grants and fellowships

  • Harvey L. Karp Discovery Award, $50,000, UC Santa Barbara, 2026
  • Future Investigators in NASA Earth and Space Science and Technology, $133,327, 2020 to 2023
  • International Geobiology Course Fellow, Caltech and Agouron Institute, 2022
  • Molecular Bioscience Fellow, Montana State University, 2018 to 2023

Selected recognitions

  • Best Postdoc Short Talk Award, Joint Genome Institute NeLLi conference, 2025
  • PLOS Biology Editors Pick, top microbiology and immunology paper, 2024
  • Cover image, Microbiology, an evolving science textbook, 2023
  • Cover image of The ISME Journal, 2022

Contact

Email, george.schaible@gmail.com GitHub, @georgeschaible ORCID, 0000-0002-1031-4682 Bluesky, @quantaofgeorge.bsky.social

A current CV is available as a PDF.