Laura M. Otter, PhD

Postdoctoral fellow in biomineralization and geochemistry
Curriculum Vitae:
Full Name:
Laura Meret Otter
Address:
Research School of Earth Sciences, Building J8, 142 Mills Road, Acton, Canberra ACT 2600, Australia
Professional Profiles
ORCID:
0000-0003-0737-4497
Web of Science ResearcherID:
0-7074-2019
ResearchGate:
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Laura_Otter
LinkedIn:
www.linkedin.com/in/DrLauraOtter
Twitter:
@Laura_M_Otter
Education
22/04/2020:
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD); Macquarie University, Australia
Thesis: Micro- to nano-scale architecture and aspects of skeletal growth in marine calcifiers
29/07/2015:
Master of Science (M.Sc.) in Geosciences, Johannes Gutenberg University, Germany
Thesis: Geochemical characterization of desert varnishes and adjacent dust
28/09/2012:
Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) in Geosciences, Johannes Gutenberg University, Germany
Thesis: Comparative material-scientific investigations of cultured pearls
Employment History
Since 2020:
Postdoctoral fellow (full-time) at The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
2019 – 2020:
Research associate (part-time) and postdoctoral research associate (full-time) at Macquarie University
2016 – 2017:
Teaching assistant, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
2014 – 2016:
Research Assistant at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry (MPIC), Mainz, Germany
2013 – 2014:
Teaching assistant Johannes-Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany
Research Funding Acquisition (CI total ~125k AUD)
March 2023:
ANU Major Equipment Committee Grant (lead CI) 84.7k AUD
Provided by the ANU Major Equipment Committee
May 2022:
Director's award for strategic research (sole CI) - 14.7k AUD
provided by the ANU Research School of Earth Sciences
Nov 2021:
Malacological Research Fund (sole CI) 2,5k AUD
provided by the Malacological Society of Australasia
Jul 2021:
ANU Research School of Earth Sciences Award (sole CI) 3,2k AUD
Awards and Achievements
Feb 2023:
Top cited article in Geostandards and Geoanalytical Research 2021-2022, Wiley
Mar 2020:
MDPI Crystals, Travel Award AUD 1,300
Dec 2019:
International Synchrotron Access Program (Austr. Synchrotron & ANSTO) Travel Award AUD 5,600
Sep 2019:
Beate Mocek Award (German Mineralogical Society) AUD 1,600
Jul 2018:
Macquarie University’s Faculty of Science and Engineering, Postgraduate Research Fund Incl. Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Research Commendation AUD 5,500
Jun 2017:
Best oral presentation at EPS HDR Conference 2017, Macquarie University AUD 50
Jan 2016:
Australian Government, International Postgraduate Research Scholarship AUD 200,000
Aug 2015:
Max Planck Graduate School grading “superior” for outstanding master’s thesis
Dec 2014:
Johannes Gutenberg University’s faculty award for outstanding bachelor’s thesis AUD 200
Dec 2014:
Johannes Gutenberg University’s Foundation for Gem Material and Economic Geology, Travel Award, AUD 400
Invited Seminar lectures and talks
Aug 2022:
"Photo-induced Force Microscopy (PiFM) and its application to biominerals"
School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Ecole Ppolytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
Aug 2022:
“Growth dynamics and amorphous-to-crystalline phase transformation in natural nacre”
Invited talk at the Gordon Research Seminar on Biomineralization, Barcelona, Spain
Aug 2022:
“Nanoscale phase-identification using Photo-induced Force Microscopy (PiFM): Application examples from biomineralogy”
Asian School of the Environment and Earth Observatory Singapore, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Mar 2020:
"Australian non-bead cultured “keshi” pearls from P. imbricata fucata and P. maxima“
Broken Bay Pearls, Pearls of Australia, Mooney Mooney, NSW, Australia
Aug 2018:
“Natural & cultured pearls: background & introduction to different pearl types”
Department of Material Science, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
Aug 2018:
“The sub-micron architecture and growth dynamics of bivalve shells”
Department of Material Science, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
Teaching Experience:
2021 – 2022:
Australian National University, ‘EMSC 4017: Earth and Marine Science Honours’, honors project supervision
2016 – 2017:
Macquarie University, undergraduate course ‘GEOS112: the Planet Earth’, prac demonstrating and marking
2013 – 2014:
Johannes-Gutenberg University, ‘Mineralogy’, teaching assistant, demonstrating spectroscopy instruments in undergrad pracs
Student Theses Supervision:
-
Shiladitya Mazumdar,
PhD thesis entitled “Biomineralization pathways and element partitioning in calcium carbonate” (2022), Macquarie University
-
Oliver M. Medd,
BSc Honours thesis entitled “An aquaculture-based calibration of bivalve shell isotope and trace element thermometry using the Sydney cockle ” (2022), the Australian National University,
first-class honours distinction
Professional Service:
Peer reviewing:
I have acted as a pee-reviewer for several international interdisciplinary and discipline journals on a regular basis including:
-
Chemical Society Reviews (Royal Society of Chemistry)
-
Climate of the Past (EGU & Copernicus Publications)
-
European Journal of Mineralogy (EGU & Copernicus Publications)
-
Gems and Gemology (Gemological Institute of America, GIA)
-
Geostandards and Geoanalytical Research (John Wiley & Sons)
-
Marine Biology (Springer Nature)
-
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (National Academy of Sciences, NAS)
-
Science Advances (American Association for the Advancement of Science, AAAS)
Since April 2021, I am a member of the GIA’s Editorial Review Board for the peer-reviewed journal Gems & Gemology.
Conference session chairing:
-
Session 1 "Characterizing Earth Materials in Three Dimensions' at the Geoanalysis 2022 Conference, Freiberg, Germany.