Course abstract

This course prepares the student to address pressing environmental challenges by developing a fundamental understanding of the microbial communities and processes in natural and built environments. It lays and builds upon the foundation of basic microbiology, microbial energetics, and diversity, to applying tools provided by microbiology ranging from traditional to state of art for addressing relevant environmental concerns. It provides an indepth exploration of the diverse role microbes and microbial communities and includes topics such as: cell structure and elements, microbial energetics and diversity, ecology and population dynamics, environmental microbial processes including biogeochemical cycling, and microbes involved in biodeterioration and bioremediation.