International Geobiology Course 2018

The International Geobiology Course (June 12th to July 17th, 2018) is an intense, multidisciplinary summer course that explores the co-evolution of the Earth and it’s biosphere, with an emphasis on how microbial processes affect the environment and leave imprints in the rock record. Participants get a hands-on learning experience in cutting-edge geobiological techniques including molecular biology, microbiology, geochemistry, and sedimentology and work in research groups to solve real research questions.

Themes for this years’ course include:

1. Molecular biology and biogeochemistry of Mono Lake, with an emphasis on microbial elemental cycling in this unusual alkaline lake.
2. Microbial processes and biogeochemical cycling of sulfur.
3. Geobiology of modern microbes living on organic-rich shales.

This year the course will be directed by Alex Sessions, Woody Fischer, and Victoria Orphan, and will remain in a format similar to previous years. It begins with a field trip up the eastern Sierra Nevada to visit hot springs, Cambrian rocks, and Mono Lake, and back down to the coast near Ventura to study sulfur springs and tar seeps, and a world-famous exposure of the Monterey Formation. Two weeks of lab rotations at Caltech will introduce students to cutting-edge analytical techniques, followed by two weeks at the Wrigley Marine Science Center on Catalina Island.

Applications are due Friday February 9th

For more information about how to apply, check out the website (http://web.gps.caltech.edu/GBcourse/) or the flyer.