IGERT: Earth's Subsurface Biosphere: Coupling of Microbial, Geophysical and Geochemical Processes

生物圈通常被认为是接近地球表面的动植物，但地球的宜居区延伸到数百米或数千米深处。地球的地下生物圈主要由细菌组成，这些细菌的总质量可能相当于近地表生物圈中所有生命的质量。对地下生物圈的新兴研究可能解决主要的环境、农业和工业问题，并带来将改善人类健康和繁荣的产品。在这一领域取得成功的关键将是了解地下微生物学与地球的物理和化学环境及过程之间的联系。这一理解适用于将有毒废物转化为无害的副产品、更安全的饮用水、提高采矿效率、增加油井中的石油流量、限制储存设施中的核废物、改良土壤和农作物、动物和人类排泄物的再利用以及地球全球和地方化学循环的基本要素。为了让研究生为这些挑战做好准备，我们将协调国际公认的工程师、微生物学家、地质学家、海洋学家、地球化学家、土壤科学家和水文学家对学生的培训。学生的准备工作将通过一个新的地下生物圈扩大，该生物圈包括五个相关组成部分。其中一些是：小组培训工作，将微生物与从分子到全球范围的物理和化学过程联系起来的课程，以及国际和国家实习、实地计划和研讨会。与地下科学、生物工程和环境有关的伦理和文化问题将包括在课程、研讨会和工作坊中。IGERT是一个NSF范围的项目，旨在应对培养具有多学科背景的博士科学家和工程师的挑战，以及未来职业需求所需的技术、专业和个人技能。该项目旨在通过建立新的、创新的研究生教育和培训模式，在一个超越传统学科界限的合作研究的肥沃环境中，催化研究生教育的文化变革。在该计划的第四年，22个机构被授予奖项，这些机构的项目共同涵盖了NSF支持的所有科学和工程领域。这一具体奖项的知识重点位于地球科学、生物科学、工程、教育和人力资源理事会以及极地方案办公室。

The biosphere is usually thought of as plants and animals near the Earth's surface, but the Earth's habitable zone extends to depths of hundreds or thousands of meters. The Earth's subsurface biosphere is composed mostly of bacteria, and collectively these bacteria may have a mass equivalent to that of all life in the near-surface biosphere. The emerging study of the subsurface biosphere could solve major environmental, agricultural, and industrial problems, and lead to products that will improve human health and prosperity. The key to success in this field will be an understanding of the links between subsurface microbiology and the Earth's physical and chemical environments and processes. This understanding is applicable to the transformation of toxic waste into harmless byproducts, safer drinking water, increased mining efficiency, increased flow of oil from wells, confining nuclear waste in storage facilities, improving soil and crops, reutilization of animal and human wastes, and the basics the Earth's global and local chemical cycles. To prepare graduate students for these challenges we will coordinate the training of students by internationally recognized engineers, microbiologists, geologists, oceanographers, geochemists, soil scientists, and hydrologists. Students' preparation will be broadened with a new subsurface biosphere integrated minor with five related components. Some of these are: a group training effort, courses that link microbial with physical and chemical processes from molecular to global scales, and international and national internships, field programs, and symposia. Ethical and cultural issues related to subsurface science, bioengineering, and the environment will be included in courses, seminars and workshops.IGERT is an NSF-wide program intended to meet the challenges of educating Ph.D. scientists and engineers with the multidisciplinary backgrounds and the technical, professional, and personal skills needed for the career demands of the future. The program is intended to catalyze a cultural change in graduate education by establishing new, innovative models for graduate education and training in a fertile environment for collaborative research that transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries. In the fourth year of the program, awards are being made to twenty-two institutions for programs that collectively span all areas of science and engineering supported by NSF. The intellectual foci of this specific award reside in the Directorates for Geosciences; Biological Sciences; Engineering; Education and Human Resources; and the Office of Polar Programs.