Support is requested for the "Extremophile Research: Theory and Techniques" course presented by the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) Education Program and the Center of Marine Biotechnology (COMB), University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute. The course will be held at COMB facilities at the Columbus Center, Baltimore, MD, on July 6-9, 1998. "Extremophile Research: Theory and Techniques" includes a one day symposium and a three day intensive laboratory workshop. The symposium brings experts from various areas of extremophile research to discuss the current state of knowledge on growth, biochemistry and genetics of extremely anaerobic methanogens, hyperthermophiles and extreme halophiles. The laboratory sessions include lectures and blocks of demonstration and hands-on experiments focussing on specialized techniques used to study these groups of organisms. Because of the high operating costs for the laboratory sessions, accessibility to faculty from small colleges and universities, as well as post-doctoral and graduate students, is limited by their ability to secure funds. To address this problem, funds will be used to provide full-tuition scholarships to facilitate the attendance of graduate students and post-doctoral fellows working in various areas of extremophile research, as well as half-tuition fellowships to assist faculty from small colleges and universities who will be able to include these experiments in their curriculum.
