Pax Bakke is a second-year master's student studying changes in microbial community composition and activity in permafrost soils in the North Slope of Alaska. Their research focuses on how microbial communities change along two environmental gradients: the vertical gradient of depth in permafrost, and the landscape gradient of glacial history. Pax's research explores the factors that structure Arctic microbial communities and their activity, leading to a greater understanding of the environmental variables that control decomposition and carbon cycling in Arctic ecosystems.

As an undergraduate at Minerva University, Pax studied Earth's Systems, while also learning as much as possible about political sciences, effective communication, and curriculum design. Their interest in soil sciences was sparked by a summer spent researching how fungi in leaf litter in El Yunque National Forest in Puerto Rico respond to hurricanes and droughts. This project became Pax's undergraduate thesis: "Decomposers & Disturbances: A review of microbial community response to disturbance in El Yunque National Forest, Puerto Rico".