NSF Award
2205876
The impact of the microbial world on the planet has never been clearer. The COVID-19 pandemic caused by the Sars-CoV-2 virus, and microbial responses to ecosystem disturbance are examples of the significant impact that microbial diversity is having on science and society. With this in mind, never has the Microbial Diversity (MD) course at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL), established fifty years ago, been more relevant and of greater value. The course provides a unique, immersive experience for twenty students, including advanced graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, and junior faculty. Initially established to explore the microbial world through cultivation, as the field has expanded, so have the techniques incorporated into the curriculum. Today, a combination of training opportunities across disciplines is key to a successful research career in microbiology, thus, the experimental focus goes beyond just growing cells in the lab to include cutting-edge microscopy, genomics, population genetics, and biochemistry. This grant will support the course's new focus on genetic and cellular mechanisms of diversity as drivers of microbial ecology and evolution. The intellecual goal will be through testing compelling research questions at the scale of single cells, populations, or ecosystems that will address global challenges. The course has a track record in broadening partipation, is strongly committed to expanding opportunities for groups under-represented in the sciences, and engages a diverse and inclusive community of faculty and students. <br/><br/>The Microbial Diversity (MD) research-training program at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) offers Early Career Researchers (ECRs) advanced training through an intensive 6-week, experience that has served a unique role in training diverse scientists in environmental microbiology for over 50 years. The overall objective is to train ECRs in modern experimental approaches in MD, to empower them to ask and test compelling microbiological research questions at the scale of single microbial cells, populations, or ecosystems. In recent years, the advancement of culture-independent (e.g., metagenomics) studies has ushered in a new era of data-driven research, highlighting unique new challenges for training in MD. The course integrates physiology, molecular cell biology, and evolutionary ecology at the microbial scale to understand and predict the role of microbial communities in ecosystem function. In the next three year funding period, using the wealth of prior course-collected metagenomic data, the scope of research will be expanded to highlight evolutionary and ecological processes that create and maintain microbial diversity at various biological scales. Focused training includes: (i) genome-enabled laboratory cultivation and pure culture isolation, emphasizing the functional analyses of understudied bacteria, archaea, microbial eukaryotes, and viruses (ii); in situ physiological and imaging approaches to quantify spatial and temporal microbial dynamics in local habitats; and (iii) single-cell and population-based approaches to quantify genetic and phenotypic heterogeneity and evolutionary mechanisms creating and maintaining diversity in microbial populations. The newly updated curriculum includes theoretical and practical training in microbiology, cell biology, and microbial ecology and research in genetic and environmental mechanisms that generate microbial diversity. To extend the experience of collaboration and research training of the MD course, trainees participate in: i) a Regional Outreach and Communication in STEM program, designed to support teams of student alumni at their home institutions, to increase science literacy and connections to the local community; ii) the MD Ambassadors group, recruiting a diversity of students for the course; and iii) hosting an Art-Science Exhibition, to inform and inspire local artists and public in the visual aesthetics of the microbial world.<br/><br/>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.
