The ultimate survivors of extreme environments come to Science Café

In Microbial Life in Extreme Environments: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly, UWindsor professor Christopher Weisener will discuss the underestimated importance of bacteria in a Science Café at Canada South Science City, at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, February 18. The session is designed for the general public, and there is no admission charge.

Extreme environments that harbour a vast diversity of microflora exist across our planet, from mine-waste sites to isolated deep crustal pockets. Bacteria are often underestimated in their ability to regulate the mass transport and toxicity of contaminants in their environment.

This lecture will provide an introduction to a range of what we consider to be extreme environments, with emphasis on the influence that bacteria have on the stability of elements in our terrestrial world. Dr. Weisener will present case studies that emphasize their role in contaminant cycling and their ability to adapt to their surroundings as essentially the “ultimate survivors.”

Weisener is an associate professor at the Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research and the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences.

As usual at Science Cafés, the talk is followed by discussion and refreshments. It is part of a series of Science Cafés—free discussions of important science research for the general public—held on the third Wednesday of each month in the café of Canada South Science City.

The series is sponsored by the Faculty of Science and the Office of Research and Innovation at the University of Windsor. Canada South Science City is located at 930 Marion Avenue in Windsor.

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