SMS 479 - Semester-by-the-Sea: Microbial Ecology

Microbes-Bacteria, Archaea, and single celled eukaryotes - are the most diverse group of organisms on Earth. Microbes underlie the ecological function of every ecosystem, and are wonderfully mysterious and exciting to study. This field and lab based course will introduce students to methods used to investigate microbial diversity and habitats in the marine environment. This course emphasizes learning the scientific process first hand through the lens of microbial ecology. Students will become familiar with molecular techniques and sequence data and how they are analyzed to understand microbial diversity. Students will quantify chemical gradients and reaction rates that influence microbial activities and distribution in the marine environment. They will learn about metabolic diversity of microbes and how this diversity plays out on broader ecological scales. Students will conduct experiments and analyze and interpret results, with an overall emphasis on investigative learning and integration with prior knowledge through writing and presentations. If this course was taken as a topics course in SMS 491, it cannot be repeated for credit.

Prerequisites: Jr. Standing and BIO 100 and CHY 121

Course Typically Offered: Fall

Credits: 4

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