Applied and Environmental Microbiology Gordon Conference and Research Seminar

This award will support the participation of graduate students, postdoctoral researchers and early career investigators to attend the 2017 Gordon Research Conference and Seminar in Applied and Environmental Microbiology (GRC-AEM), a biennial gathering that represents a very vibrant research field with major impacts on the environment and human society. The goals of the GRC-AEM are to provide an open forum for presentation and discussion of the latest research in related microbial sciences. Microorganisms exert a profound influence on life on Earth, sustaining our environment, influencing our health, and driving industrial biotechnology. Previous AEM-GRCs have helped to advance research in industrial laboratories, colleges and universities, research foundations, and government laboratories.

Gordon Research Conferences explore the frontiers of science in the chemical, biological and physical sciences. Established in 1950, the (AEM) GRC is one of the longest running GRCs. The 2017 GRC-AEM, subtitled Human and Microbial Perspectives of Microbial Economics, will highlight diverse strategies adopted by microbes for coping with energy and resource excesses and limitations within a broad spectrum of natural, industrial, and clinical environments. Research areas central to this GRC include terrestrial, marine, and freshwater biogeochemical cycles and the influence of microbes on climate change through consumption and production of greenhouse gases, bioremediation of contaminated land and water, production of biofuels, use as biocatalysts, microbes in human health, and interactions of microbes with animals and plants. Some sessions will embrace 'Microbial Economics' as it pertains to the cost/benefit of microbes to humans, while others will consider 'Economics' from the microbe's perspective and explore the diversity of lifestyles and metabolic strategies for coping with resource availability and limitation. The intimate size of the conference encourages dialog and exchange of ideas - especially between students and senior scientists. To help facilitate this, for most sessions a graduate student, postdoctoral researcher or early-career investigator will be selected be selected from the abstract submissions to give a presentation. Poster sessions will also help stimulate discussions that carry through the week. The conference will be preceded by a two-day Gordon Research Seminar subtitled the 'Sharing Economy of Microbes and Microbial Communities: Adaptations and Applications'.