Victoria J. Orphan - "Microbial Life Support: The Invisible Living Networks That Shape Our Oceans"

While invisible to the naked eye, microorganisms and their interactions with each other and their environment play fundamental roles in the cycling of elements critical to life on our planet. In deep seafloor sediments, billions of microorganisms compete and cooperate via a complex network of metabolic interactions that are still poorly understood, but are important in the cycling of methane and sequestration of carbon.

Dr. Orphan will talk about the activities of marine microorganisms from the ocean surface to deep in the earth's crust and consider the globally important geochemical processes they orchestrate through metabolic collaboration.

Victoria J. Orphan is James Irvine Professor of Environmental Science and Geobiology at Caltech, in the Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences.

This is a free event; no tickets or reservations are required.

Reserved section tickets are available to members of the Friends of Beckman Auditorium and the Caltech Associates.