Geomicrobiology (G-690) is designed as an introduction to microbiology
for graduate students with diverse backgrounds but shared research
interests in biogeochemistry, ground-water microbiology, extremophile
ecosystems, astrobiology, and origins of life.  The first six week
will focus on textbook readings with supporting lectures on microbial
classification, growth, metabolism and genetics in order to build a
conceptual framework and a technical vocabulary.  The second six weeks
will incorporate discussions into lecture topics based on recent
journal articles.  The final two weeks will be reserved for student
presentations. There will be two mid-term exams (30% each) and a
three-page executive summary supported by an annotated bibliography
with a minimum of 20 journal references (20%)  Each student will
present a 30-minute oral summary (20%) of their term paper.