Microorganisms are present virtually everywhere on Earth. Microbes carry out processes that make Earth habitable and help to maintain plant, human, and animal health. In other words, an understanding of microorganisms and their activities is critical to sustain clean air and water, to maintain food security and to prevent human disease. This grant will support the participation of early-career scientists in the Gordon Conference on Applied and Environmental Microbiology (GRC-AEM)at Mount Holyoke College, July 14 - 19, 2019. Established in 1950, the GRC-AEM brings together scientists to address research on the importance of microbes in human health, interactions of microbes with animals and plants, terrestrial and aquatic biogeochemical cycles, bioremediation of contaminated land and water, production of biofuels, and use of microbes as biocatalysts in industry. Areas of microbiological research covered by the GRC-AEM have an immense societal impact on the environment and mankind and thus this GRC remains highly topical and a very vibrant research field.
The main goals of the GRC-AEM are to provide an open forum for the presentation and discussion of the latest research findings on environmental and applied applications of microorganisms from the single cell to the ecosystem level. The GRC AEM will address critical or even controversial issues for the development of new technologies. The 2019 Conference subtitled "Shaping the Earth's Microverse" will address one of the most urgent questions in microbiology: How can we employ what we have learned from the co-evolution of Earth with microbial life to address current challenges of the Anthropocene? The Conference has a great track record of stimulating cutting edge and innovative research by scientists in academia, research institutes/foundations and government and industrial laboratories. There will be a Gordon Research Seminar (GRS-AEM) associated with the GRC-AEM entitled, "Microbial Language: Microbes, Molecules, and Metabolites", which will be exclusively for PhD students and postdoctoral researchers. The GRC-AEM program will also have several poster talks by early-career researchers chosen from poster abstract submissions. The grant will ensure broadening participation of a diverse group of individuals who can attend both the GRS and the GRC, assisting with costs for PhD students, postdocs and early-career faculty members to participate in the GRS and GRC, respectively.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
