Delaware EPSCoR Science



	Explore Your Ecosystem Research Profiles It's a Microbial World Biotechnology Toolbox The Critical Zone: Where the Action Is Going to Extremes
	Microbes are the most abundant organisms on the planet. There are approxi- mately 9 sextillion microbes — that's 9,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000 (9 x 10²¹) microbes for every human.

Down and Dirty

To our eyes, a tablespoon of soil is insignificant dirt, hardly enough to sprout a seed. But remarkably, a tablespoon of soil may harbor a million different species of microorganisms. Bacteria, viruses, protozoans, algae, and other life forms too small to see, populate every corner of the earth in unimaginable numbers and variety. Although they are tiny, these microbes play a huge role in maintaining the livability of our planet.

We are only just beginning to develop scientific tools that can operate at the scale of the microbial world — from microscopes that can "see" individual molecules, to probes that can distinguish different species of bacteria genetically. And with these tools, we are just beginning to learn what the composition of microbial communities — the precise mix of types and numbers of microbes that inhabit a certain environment —- have to tell us about the health and function of our ecosystem.

Microbial Research at the University of Delaware

Sophisticated microscopes and other bioimaging tools help Delaware EPSCoR scientists picture how microorganisms respond to their environment.

Topics

Explore Your Ecosystem

This interactive map of our Delaware ecosystem will introduce you to some of the vital connections between ourselves and the living and nonliving components of our environment.

http://www.udel.edu/research/epscor/ecosystem.html

Research Profiles

Delaware EPSCoR is supporting the work of scientists around the state, encouraging unusual collaborations between disciplines. Meet some of our researchers and learn about their projects that are designed to unlock the secrets of our complex environment.

It's a Microbial World

While it's true that some microscopic organisms cause disease and produce toxins, many others perform life-sustaining functions such as recycling carbon, nitrogen, and other basic elements. The number and diversity of microbes that inhabit the Earth boggle the imagination!

Biotechnology Toolbox

Check out the array of high-tech tools available to scientists in Delaware through the Delaware Biotechnology Institute. Our well-stocked tool chest allows scientists to share expensive resources and receive expert assistance.

The Critical Zone: Where the Action Is

Life on Earth exists in what scientists call the Critical Zone: a relatively thin band that encircles the globe, extending from the lower atmosphere down through the soil as far as groundwater permeates. The interactions of rock, soil, water, air, and living organisms in the Critical Zone regulate the natural habitat and determine the availability of vital resources.

Going to Extremes

Some organisms manage to survive the most extreme conditions our planet has to offer. Scientists who study the survival strategies of these "extremophiles" hope they will teach us a few new chemical tricks as well as answer questions about the origins of life on Earth.

This is the research focus of Delaware EPSCoR: we want to understand the composition, abundance, and interaction over time and space of microbial communities that inhabit land and sea. And we want to develop extremely small-scale biosensors that can detect and measure the interrelationships among microbial communities, thereby helping to determine and predict their impact on ecosystem health.

An educational partnership by:

Sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the State of Delaware.
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Number EPS-0447610.