Geobiology

Geobiology is the study of how life and Earth interact and co-evolve, both in the present day and throughout Earth's history. Thus, this research includes investigations of the rock record, modern ecosystems including analogs of past environments, and laboratory-based experiments to examine mechanisms through which organisms interact with their environment. Examples of active geobiology research at Michigan include examining the development of global biogeochemical cycles, exploring how Banded Iron Formations and other chemical sediments record evidence of Precambrian microbial metabolisms, reconstructing the composition of the atmosphere during key periods of biologic innovation, studying the ecological and environmental causes of toxic cyanobacterial blooms, interrogating the bioavailability of geologically-derived heavy metals in the environment, and investigating the microbiology, biogeochemistry, and sedimentology of microbial mats that are analogs of Precambrian 'mat world'.