ESS 222: Microbes and Climate (BIO 105, BIO 205, ESS 122)

Course Description

Microorganisms drive the cycling of carbon, oxygen, and other nutrients in the earth system. This means that microbes both impact and are impacted by changes in climate. In this reading course, participants will read and present a combination of classic and current papers in the primary literature. Topics will include: the co-evolution of microbial metabolism and the climate system over geological timescales; impacts of current climate change on microbial physiology, community ecology, and ecosystem function; multiple stressors; feedbacks of microbial communities to anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions; methods for connecting microbial activities to climate dynamics in process models.