Topics in Biogeochemistry

Catalog description

This seminar addresses chemical interactions between the biosphere and the physical environment over Earth's history and as impacted by humans. This course will provide a broad survey of biogeochemical principles, and offer a community-building experience for students with biogeochemical interests from diverse departments. Students will complete the course with a synthetic knowledge of the key topics in the field of biogeochemistry. Each week we will focus on a topic within the broad field of biogeochemistry such as: origins of the elements, reactions in the atmosphere, soil development, the distribution of redox reactions and microbial metabolic pathways, and the global cycles of carbon, water, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, mercury, and perhaps other elements. For each topic, we will focus on the questions: What is known or can be observed? How is this information used to understand biogeochemical phenomena and process? How are these processes scaled over time and space? What are emerging and important questions in the subspecialties of biogeochemistry?