Marine Ecosystems: From Microbiomes, to Conservation, Climate & Beyond
Course Code
BIOS 27726 97
Course Description
This course is designed for rising 2nd years with interests in microbiology, the environment, and society. More specifically, the course is designed for students considering a science major, as well as non-majors who are looking for broad exposure to geosciences, environmental and climate science, microbiology, molecular biology, and the intersection between society and science.
You will study coastal marine habitats, connectivity to ocean and climate, dynamics of microbial community structure, and marine conservation alongside gaining experience on laboratory microbiome science and environmental field work. You will gain firsthand experience with the types of microbes that influence climate and impact health through laboratory experiments on culturing and analyzing microbes in ‘pristine’ and highly impacted coastal ecosystems.
Methods to be learned include plating, epifluorescence microscopy, flow cytometry, DNA extraction, and sequencing. Lectures will cover marine microbiology, CO2 sequestration (natural and engineered), geochemistry, coastal and open ocean habitat structure, and links to climate and the climate crisis. We will also address equity issues in marine conservation and the climate crisis.
While all field work will be coastal, you will also learn about the open ocean due to the key linkages of water masses as well as climate feedback.
This course is only open to University of Chicago students.
Course Criteria
Course meets for three weeks at Marine Biological Laboratories, in Woods Hole Massachusetts.
Lab and lecture times to be coordinated on site.
For more information see http://college.uchicago.edu/academics/mbl-september-courses
This course is not open to visiting students.
Instructor(s)
Alexandra Worden
UChicago Registration 1Visiting Application 2