Earth and Environmental Microbiology
Life as we know it would not have evolved without microorganisms and is significantly impacted by their survival. This course explores the microorganism across Earth’s systems (soil, freshwater, and marine) from the first microbe on Earth to processes ongoing today. As microorganisms survive in the various Earth systems, they catalyze chemical reactions and influence environmental processes that have and continue to transform Earth (water quality, climate change, human health, energy production). Some of these changes have create resources that we use today, oil and steel. Others do create health issues, pathogen contaminated lettuce, spread of antimicrobial resistance genes, and contribute to the production of greenhouse gasses leading to climate change. These processes influence global change but can also be harnessed for biotechnological applications (biomining, bioenergy, bioremediation/environmental cleanup and treatment, carbon sequestration, plant/crop production, and waste water treatment). Join us over the Spring of 2021 to explore the microbiology across Earth and the many Environments supporting life.
BIOS/GEOL 444
3 credit hours
MW 12-1:15
Pre-requisites 3 hours LIFE and 3 hours CHEM
In person Manter Hall 401
Instructor: Dr. Karrie A. Weber
More details at: http://kweber@unl.edu