Geomicrobiology and Microbial Geochemistry Workshop 2013

将在伊利诺伊州芝加哥举行一个为期两天的研讨会，回顾过去的进展、未来的机会和可能的新方法，以推动地质微生物学和微生物地球化学(GMG)领域的发展，该领域的30名顶尖科学家将参加。这次活动的主要成果将是编写一份报告，说明这些要点，作为整个实地和可能具有重叠专门知识和兴趣的其他领域的科学家的信息工具。此外，与会者将提出至少一个可行的框架，以更好地鼓励和促进该领域基础科学进步的多学科性质的挑战和机会。地球微生物学和微生物地球化学是与了解微生物及其化学环境的基本性质密切相关的两个专业领域。微生物通过新陈代谢和生长塑造其周围环境，主导着许多地球化学循环(包括碳、氧、氮、硫和铁)，而化学环境(包括矿物、水和气体)在选择能够在特定地点茁壮成长的微生物种群方面起着决定性的作用。微生物与其化学环境之间的这种联系形成了各种各样的现代和古代环境。仍然存在许多问题、挑战和机会，以促进对这些互动的更好理解。这些认识上的差距限制了准确定义深部时间或其他星球的生命信号，测量元素微生物循环对气候变化的相对变化，以及预测人类对陆地、海洋和大气的影响将如何影响自然系统等方面的能力。微生物与其化学环境的相互作用是在广泛的社会关注的问题中考虑的关键过程，包括资源的可用性，人类对自然系统的影响，环境中污染物的命运，以及生命的起源、进化和证据。通过鼓励这些领域的研究，已经并将继续实现开发新技术和发现微生物用于特定功能的新化合物的机会。此外，还有一些关键工具和专业知识领域在处理微生物及其周围环境方面具有固有的价值。找到新的和改进的方法将这些多学科领域结合在一起，是推进科学和培训能够有效地跨越这些界限的新一代科学家的另一个重要机会。

A two-day workshop reviewing the past progress, future opportunities, and possible new approaches to advance the field of Geomicrobiology and Microbial Geochemistry (GMG) will be held in Chicago, IL, involving 30 leading scientists in the field. The primary product of this event will be the generation of a report illustrating these points to serve as an informational tool for the field at large and scientists in other fields with possible overlapping expertise and interest. Additionally, participants will lay out at least one viable framework to better encourage and facilitate the multidisciplinary nature of the challenges and opportunities for basic scientific advancement in the field.Geomicrobiology and Microbial Geochemistry are two fields of expertise intimately linked towards understanding the fundamental nature of how microorganisms and their chemical surroundings behave in tandem. Microorganisms shape their surroundings through metabolism and growth, dominating many geochemical cycles (including carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, and iron), while the chemical setting (including minerals, water, and gases) plays a decisive role in selecting for populations of microbes able to thrive in specific locations. This link between microorganisms and their chemical surroundings shape a wide variety of modern and ancient settings. There remain a host of questions, challenges, and opportunities for advancing better understanding of these interactions. These gaps in understanding limit the ability to precisely define signals of life in deep time or other planets, gauge the relative changes in microbial cycling of elements in response to climate change, and predict how anthropogenic impacts on land, sea, and atmosphere will affect natural systems, among other things.Microbial interactions with their chemical surroundings are key processes to consider in a wide range of problems of great societal interest, including the availability of resources, the impact of man on natural systems, the fate of contaminants in the environment, and the origin, evolution, and evidence for life. Opportunities for the development of new technologies and the discovery of new chemical compounds utilized by microorganisms for specific functions have been, and will continue to be realized by encouraging research in these fields. Additionally, there are a number of critical tools and areas of expertise that are inherently valuable in working with microorganisms and their surroundings. Finding new and improved ways of bringing these multidisciplinary areas together represent another significant opportunity for advancing science and for training a new generation of scientists able to effectively work across these boundaries.