EnvMicro_Introd_Spr2010_Post - ENVIRONMENTAL AND POLLUTION...

ENVIRONMENTAL AND POLLUTION MICROBIOLOGY
11:375:411, 16:375:510
Spring Semester, MW, 6th Period (5:35-6:55 pm)
Instructors:
L. Young, Dean of International Programs
J. Kukor, Dean of Academic Programs
Teaching Assistant: Adam Mumford
Website for ppt lectures: http://envsci.rutgers.edu/510/

• Syllabus - exams, non-cumulative
• Books - available for purchase
on reserve
• Requirements - exams
problem sets
poster session
- graduate students
additional set of requirements
• Student conduct - expectations for ethical behavior

WHY STUDY MICROBIOLOGY?
• In the news and current events of the day
- give me some examples
• It impacts on our daily lives
Disease and illness
- how many have had colds recently? flu?
- are they caused by the same or different microbe?
- how many have taken antibiotics recently?
Food
- how many had yogurt, cheese, beer for lunch?
- how many brought lunch to work and put it in the fridge?

WHY STUDY MICROBIOLOGY?
Environment
- how many use New Brunswick tap water treated at
the local water treatment system on campus?
- how many flushed the toilet today and knows where
it goes?
- how many grow legumes and don’t need to fertilize?
- how many use a compost pile for their garden?
Biotechnology
- enzymes used as whiteners in detergents
- “natural” flavors and colors for foods
- antibiotic production

WHY STUDY MICROBIOLOGY?
• Impact on the study of biology
- “micro”-biology model for the study
of “macro”-biological systems
- e.g. basic, fundamental cell biochemistry (Krebs cycle),
population ecology, competition for limiting resources
WHY THIS COURSE IN MICROBIOLOGY?
• Applications of microbiology specifically to the environment
- what is the role that microbes have on the
environment? - cycling of elements on earth, role
in water, wastewater, geobiochemistry
- develop an understanding well enough to use them
beneficially

SUMMARY POINTS IN WASHINGTON POST ARTICLES
• Stephen J. Gould, emminent geologist, wrote “Full House” which talks
extensively about the planet of the bacteria.
• Bacteria were the first fossils and the dominant form of life on Earth.
• The fossil record of life begins with bacteria, at least 3.5 billion yrs ago.
• About half a history of life later, the more complex eucaryote cells first
appear in the fossil records, around 1.8 billion years ago.