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SUMMARY:EESS talk on "A fresh look at microbial methane cycling in lacustr
 ine and marine sediments"
DTSTART:20180424T121500
DTEND:20180424T131500
DTSTAMP:20260924T163455Z
UID:da0b8bd03478f952cf2c67bf77f137a4a448117db270382e3b469f18
CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars
DESCRIPTION:Dr Mark Lever\, professor\, Environmental Microbiology\, Depar
 tment of Environmental Systems Science\, ETHZ\nAbstract:\nMethanogenic arc
 haea are among the biochemically and physiologically best studied groups o
 f microorganisms and\, by producing the greenhouse gas methane\, play an i
 mportant role in regulating global climate. Research has shown these Archa
 ea to be widespread in anoxic freshwater and marine sediments. Yet\, many 
 open questions remain. Genomic analyses on recently discovered archaeal ph
 yla have indicated that more groups of Archaea perform methanogenic metabo
 lism than previously thought. The ecology of methanogens is also not well 
 understood. For unknown reasons\, methanogenic communities vary greatly be
 tween sedimentary habitats\, even ones that utilize the same energy substr
 ates. It is also not known why in certain habitats H2+CO2 and in others ac
 etate is the dominant energy source of methanogens. While methanogenic tem
 perature ranges have been studied in many laboratory cultures\, the extent
  to which these ranges translate to the environment is also unknown. I wil
 l present examples of how my group is shedding light on the above unknowns
 . Detailed quantitative and phylogenetic surveys on methanogens\, includin
 g members of newly discovered groups\, will be presented across a wide ran
 ge of freshwater and marine sediments varying in dominant methanogenic ene
 rgy substrate\, redox potential\, composition of partner organisms\, tempe
 rature\, and energy flux. I will offer a synopsis of potential main driver
 s of methanogenic community composition and outline important questions fo
 r future research.\n\nShort biography:\nMark Lever is an environmental mic
 robiologist with a mixed background in ecology\, microbiology\, and biogeo
 chemistry resulting from a Masters in ecosystem ecology from Boston Univer
 sity\, a PhD in microbial biogeochemistry from the University of North Car
 olina at Chapel Hill (both USA)\, and postdoctoral research in geomicrobio
 logy at Aarhus University (DK). His research is driven by his interest in 
 the role of microorganisms (Bacteria and Archaea) in Earth's biogeochemica
 l cycles\, in particular the carbon cycle. Through his research\, he pursu
 es scientific questions of broad significance concerning the mechanistic (
 how?) and quantitative (how much?) influence of microorganisms on the shor
 t- and long-term fate of organic carbon in aquatic sediments. He studies n
 atural freshwater and marine sediments\, from the surface to meters and ki
 lometers below\, and perform field and laboratory experiments\, covering t
 ime scales from current human activity to Earth's ancient past.\n 
LOCATION:GR A3 32 https://plan.epfl.ch/?room==GR%20A3%2032
STATUS:CONFIRMED
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