Norman Pace

Full CV

Biographical Sketch

Partial Curriculum Vitae

NORMAN R. PACE
Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology
University of Colorado
Boulder, CO 80309-0347
Telephone 303-735-1864, Fax 303-492-7744
nrpace@colorado.edu

Education
1964 B.A. (Honors), Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana
1967 Ph.D., University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois
1967-69 Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois

Professional Societies and Some Activities

• National Academy of Sciences.
• American Society for Microbiology.
• American Society of Biological Chemists; Editorial Board of "The Journal of Biological Chemistry,"1980-84.
• National Speleological Society, Fellow; Bicking Award, 1987
• NRC/Space Science Board Committee on Planetary Biology and Chemical Evolution, 1985- 1989.
• Space Science Board Mars Rover/Sample Return Advisory Committee, 1987-88.
• Office of Technology Assessment Human Genome Mapping Review Board, 1987-88.
• Co-Chairman, 1988 Gordon Conference on Nucleic Acids.
• Co-Organizer, 1989 Cold Spring Harbor Meeting on RNA Processing.
• Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Program Associate, 1993-
• NRC/Space Studies Board Committee on Planetary and Lunar Exploration, 1989-1995.
• Co-Organizer RNA '96, 1996 RNA Society Meeting
• Editorial Board, "RNA," the Journal of The RNA Society, 1995 -
• Board of Scientific Counselors, National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, 1994-
• Editorial Board, “Environmental Microbiology”, 1998 -
• Scientific Advisory Council, Paratuberculosis  Awareness and Research Association (PARA), 2000-
• Board of Directors, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI), 2000-
• NRC/Space Studies Board Committee on Origin and Evolution of Life, 1999-

Some Recognition

• 1989, Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science.
• 1991, Member, National Academy of Sciences.
• 1991, Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
• 1995, Fellow American Academy of Microbiology.
• 1996, Procter and Gamble Award in Applied and Environmental Microbiology (American Society for Microbiology).
• 1997, D. Sc. (Honorary), University of British Columbia.
• 2001, Selman A. Waksman Award in Microbiology (National Academy of Sciences).
• 2001, Fellow, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
• 2007, Abbott-American Society for Microbiology Lifetime Achievement Award
• 2008, RNA Society Lifetime Achievement Award
• 2008, International Society of Microbial Ecology Tiedje Award for Lifetime Achievement

Research Support

• 1984-2012 Principal Investigator, USPHS Grant GM 34527; MERIT Award, 1993
• 2006-2011 Principal Investigator, NIOSH Grant R01 0H009064
• 2000-03 Principal Investigator, NSF Grant FRS153-3280
• 2000-03 Investigator, NASA Astrobiology Institute
• 2006-2011  Principal Investigator, NIOSH Grant R01 0H009064
• 2006-2014  Investigator, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

Current Research Activities

Research interests revolve about the synthesis, structure and function of RNA; and the application of
molecular biological tools to problems in environmental microbial biology.

One effort of the laboratory has been the study of Ribonuclease P, an RNA processing enzyme
responsible for removing the 5' termini of tRNA precursors during their maturation. This is a particularly interesting
enzyme because the catalytic element is itself RNA; RNase P is a ribozyme. Studies have included determination
of the molecular structure of RNase P RNA, the nature of its interaction with tRNA precursors and other
substrates, and the mechanism of the RNA-catalyzed reaction.

A second emphasis of the laboratory has been on development and use of molecular methods for
analysis of phylogenetic and quantitative aspects of natural microbial communities without the requirement for
laboratory cultivation. This is an important direction because only a few environmental microorganisms are
cultured using standard techniques. Consequently, before the molecular developments, there was little access to
the natural microbial world. The application of molecular technologies such as sequencing ribosomal RNA
(rRNA) genes for phylogenetic analyses and the use of rRNA-based hybridization probes for in situ identification
of microbes have revolutionized microbial ecology. Investigations have been broadly directed, for instance toward
high-temperature environments, unusual symbioses, little-known (at the time) microbial ecosystems such as
endolithic communities and marine picoplankton, environmental bioremediation, selected human diseases and
the indoor environment all around us. Collectively, molecular results from this laboratory and others have
dramatically revised our understanding of microbial diversity.

The Anti-"Prokaryote" Stance

For years, Dr. Pace has argued that the misleading term "prokarya" should be dropped from biology since it defines organisms by what do not have (nuclei). The correct terms are bacteria and archaea. Dr. Pace wrote an essay for Nature describing the anti-prokaryote argument:

Pace NR. (2006) Time for a change.Nature. 441(7091):289.

Also see his Abbott-ASM Lifetime Achievement Award presentation:

Abbott-ASM Talk

 

Lab Happenings

Summer 2010: Postdocs Dan Frank and Piret Koll are leaving us. Dan is now an Assistant Professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, and Piret will be returning to dental practice and research in Estonia.

Pace Symposium

Thank you for joining us in celebrating 25 years of microbial diversity, 40 years of RNA research and 65 years of Norm Pace! It was great to see everyone here to celebrate Norm's amazing accomplishments! Click this link to see photos from the symposium and watch Norm's keynote address.