Credits: 3
Semester: Fall
Location: Online


Microorganisms were the first organisms on Earth and are still the most abundant and diverse group of organisms on the planet. They are essential components of ecosystems (including the human body) and are increasingly being used as alternative energy sources, as bioremediation agents, as fertilizers in agriculture, and more. This course will provide a solid foundation on core microbial ecology and environmental microbiology topics and familiarize students with both landmark and current literature in these fields. Students will evaluate published studies and be able to put those within the context of current microbial ecology issues. In addition this course will encourage students to formulate their own questions with regards to probing microbial community structure or function in different environments and design experiments to address those questions.