Professor: Jesse Wilson
4.credits
A drop of seawater contains roughly one million bacteria, and you can thank marine phytoplankton for about half of every breath you take. Microorganisms are the foundation for life and drive Earth's biogeochemical cycles. Simply put, Earth's functioning depends on microbial activities. In this course, we will explore the ecological roles of microorganisms in a range of freshwater and marine environments. We will investigate how microbes act as ecosystem engineers, transforming their environments through photosynthesis, decomposition, nutrient cycling, and interactions with other organisms. By connecting microbial processes to oceanography, limnology, and global environmental change, we will discover how these microscopic organisms can affect the world. Students will use what they learn to propose solutions to pressing environmental issues that involve microbes and their metabolisms.