Source: BAM
BAM and Freie Universität Berlin invite you on a scientific voyage of discovery into the world of microorganisms
The interactions of microorganisms and other living organisms with our planet will be the focus of a public lecture series organised by the Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM) together with the Freie Universität Berlin. The six lectures will start on October 14th and be held by internationally renowned experts. and offer a parcours through different disciplines. The series is part of the lecture series "Science with Impact", with which BAM is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year. The lectures will take place in English on Thursdays from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. and can be followed digitally free of charge. Registration is not required.
Even if individual microorganisms are invisible to the naked eye, they fulfil extremely important functions for humans and the environment all over the world - in mountains and deserts as well as in oceans and rivers: they influence the cycles of elements, substances and energy and thus cause soils to produce food and plants to thrive. Even the landscape - the shape of the Earth's surface - is modulated by fascinating interactions between living organisms, climate and plate tectonics.
These relationship between living things and the Earth are increasingly challenged nowadays: Has the exponential increase in man-made pollution, such as plastic waste, changed the global microbiome? Are algae on the Greenland ice sheet influencing the rate at which glaciers there are melting and sea levels rising? In what ways does global warming cause microbial feedbacks in the Earth's carbon and nitrogen budgets?
And how can the countless tiny actors and their extremely consequential effects be made visible? Specialists from various disciplines shed light on the role of microbes on our planet and expand our anthropocentric view of the entire Earth system with a surprising perspective.
These questions will be addressed in the individual lectures by Prof. Todd Ehlers (University of Tübingen and California Institute of Technology), Prof. Dr. Liane G. Benning (Helmholtz Centre Potsdam, GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Freie Universität Berlin), Prof. Dr. Lisa Gieg (University of Calgary), Prof. Dr. Friedhelm von Blanckenburg (Helmholtz Centre Potsdam, GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Freie Universität Berlin), Prof. Dr. Antje Boetius (Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research at the University of Bremen, Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology) and Prof. Dr. Dirk Wagner (Helmholtz Centre Potsdam, GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, University of Potsdam).
The series is part of the lecture series "Science with Impact", with which the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM) is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year. Within "Science with Impact", further interesting events are scheduled between October and December 2021: among others, lectures on digitalisation and sustainability in the construction industry, on high-performance materials and welding techniques in additive manufacturing.
Interesting facts about BAM's work in the field of microbiology and the environment
Further information on the BAM lecture series "Science with Impact"
Information on BAM's 150th anniversary