Meeting: Life on the Edge: Biology, Physiology, and Evolution of Extremophiles, Portland, Oregon, January 2016

Portland State University, Portland OR

Investigators

Abstract

This award supports the participation of researchers and their students in a symposium entitled "Life on the Edge: Biology, Physiology, and Evolution of Extremophiles" which will be held at the annual Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB) meeting in January, 2016 in Portland Oregon, home to the Center for Life in Extreme Environments (OMSI) at Portland State and the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. The aims of this symposium are to: (1) synthesize current knowledge of the biology of organisms that live in very extreme environments (extremophiles) by uniting a diverse group of researchers who do not generally attend the same meetings, and (2) provide a platform to discuss how to best use the enigmatic nature of these unique organisms as a tool for informal STEM education. The very nature of the existence of extremophiles is often enough to pique public interest in the biological sciences. Thus, we have partnered with OMSI to offer a workshop to SICB attendees that includes dynamic, hands-on and reflective activities designed to introduce basic science communication concepts and techniques. This award supports the participation of researchers and their students in a symposium entitled "Life on the Edge: Biology, Physiology, and Evolution of Extremophiles" which will be held at the annual Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB) meeting in January, 2016 in Portland Oregon, home to the Center for Life in Extreme Environments (OMSI) at Portland State and the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. Recent advances in fields such as high-throughput sequencing, metagenomics, and transcriptomics are now uncovering some of the mechanisms by which organisms are capable of not only surviving, but also thriving, in extreme ecosystems. One shortcoming in the field of extremophile biology is that researchers tend to collaborate largely with those studying similar taxonomic groups, resulting in a lack of overall communication in methodological and theoretical advancements. This lack of broad-scale interaction is of particular concern in light of the potential impacts of climate change on these ecosystems. To foster new collaborations across broad disciplines in extremophile biology, researchers from diverse taxonomic and academic backgrounds have been invited to participate in a symposium.