MEEM faculty conduct research across a wide range of scales using numerous methods and state-of-the-art facilities. Molecular approaches are used to understand problems in evolution, diversity, biodegradation, and animal-microbe or plant-microbe interactions. Biochemical and physiological approaches are used to understand and then predict specific behaviors of microbes. Though such research may be conducted on laboratory benchtops, it is often designed to address both applied and basic problems in natural or industrial settings.

MEEM faculty also explore microbial activities as they occur in a variety of aquatic and terrestrial systems, including forests, agroecosystems, groundwater systems (aquifers), fresh and saltwater marshes, intertidal systems and oceanic environments. Research in these systems is designed to understand the dynamics of microbial contributions to biogeochemical cycles at global scales, and to understand the impacts of anthropogenic disturbances on microbes in various ecosystems.

Please see individual faculty links for descriptions of specific research
programs and opportunities for students.