Environmental Microbial Biogeochemistry

3-0-9 units · Undergraduate

Provides a thorough introduction to biogeochemical cycling from the vantage point of microbial physiology. Emphasizes molecular mechanisms, experimental design and methodology, hypothesis testing, and applications. Topics include aerobic and anaerobic respiration, trace metals, secondary metabolites, redox, plant-microbe interactions, carbon storage, agriculture, and bioengineering. Formal lectures and in-depth discussions of foundational and contemporary primary literature. Students use knowledge of microbial metabolisms to develop final projects on applied solutions to problems in agriculture and biogeochemistry. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments.