​Dr. Bretschger received her B.S. in Physics and Astronomy at the University of Northern Arizona, and after a five-year career in aerospace and consulting, she completed a Ph.D. in Materials Science at the University of Southern California. Dr. Bretschger joined the J. Craig Venter Institute in 2008 and over the course of her research tenure, she has established a productive team of researchers dedicated to understanding the fundamental mechanisms associated with extracellular electron transfer (a process that enables microbes to respire solid surfaces, i.e., “breathe rocks”) and applying that understanding to technology development for bioremediation, bioenergy, and water recycling.​