Earth's Microbial Engines

Earth’s Microbial Engines (EME) aims to accurately predict how microbes impact terrestrial ecosystem function, and enable translational ecology approaches that develop solutions for enhancing ecosystem function and health based on integrating fundamental discovery and multi-scale sensing and simulation capabilities. Studying the mechanisms by which microbial communities modulate ecosystems and vice versa is necessary to develop a predictive understanding of the potential for naturally occurring microbes to improve the sustainable use of Earth’s resources. At the intersection of biology, ecology, biogeochemistry, and the environment, new theories about microbial metabolism and dynamics are leading us to many discoveries about the true impact and potential of microbes—the most diverse and abundant life form on Earth.

The ability to quantify, model, and predict microbial-ecosystem feedbacks to better understand our planet’s ecology and translate this knowledge into environmental strategies is critical to our understanding of these systems and how they will respond to rapid climate change, increasing environmental extremes, and other disturbances. This research is organized through four strategic research objectives:

1. Advance the fundamental understanding of in-situ microbial metabolic potential and coupled ecological and biogeochemical processes from bedrock to canopy

2. Develop multi-scale capabilities to accurately sense and simulate biological-environmental feedbacks

3. Document the impact of global change and other perturbations on microbial processes in soil and subsurface systems and the resulting impacts on ecosystem function

4. Translate ecological understanding into predictable solutions for environmental challenges