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INTEGRATIVE GRADUATE EDUCATION AND RESEARCH TRAINING (IGERT) PROGRAM
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OVERVIEW
Montan State University NSF IGERT Program
Geobiological Systems: Providing Connectivity across Molecular and Environmental Scales
1.0 Preface
The MSU IGERT is organized around a ‘systems’ approach, where numerous disciplines are enveloped into a consistent and organized framework for dissecting and reassembling the complexity of microbial habitats, their occupants and their activities (Figure 1). Our goal is to formally unify disciplinary elements in a graduate training program across the life, environmental and engineering sciences that result in Ph.D. graduates with capabilities to address the complexity of microbial processes in any system, while maintaining significant disciplinary depth.
IGERT Ph.D. students may excel in any one of a number of specific disciplines (see IGERT Participating Faculty, Table 1) that pertain to the study of microbial communities including but not limited to microbiology, geobiology, biochemistry, engineering and mathematics (Figure 2). Successful research projects will be those that interface with faculty interest. IGERT stipends are provided for 2-2.5 years, after which students will be supported by an IGERT faculty team. IGERT students will have significant opportunities to participate in world-class research projects with nationally recognized faculty and benefit from domestic and international internships. Required IGERT coursework (see Required Curriculum, Figure 3), is organized to provide students a clear path towards the development of a graduate thesis project in consultation with an IGERT faculty team.
Table 1. List of Current IGERT Participants (MSU, Affiliates, and International Collaborators)
| Director: Bill Inskeep. Co-PIs: Anne Camper, John Peters, Brent Peyton. |
| MSU Faculty, Title |
Expertise |
Department |
| Ed Adams, Professor |
Mechanics |
Civil Engineering |
| Recep Avci, Associate Professor |
Surface Science |
Physics |
| Brian Bothner, Assistant Professor |
Proteomics |
Chemistry and Biochemistry |
| Anne Camper, Professor, Assoc. Dean |
Biofilm Engineering |
Civil Engineering |
| Ross Carlson, Assistant Professor |
Metabolic Engineering |
Chemical and Biol. Engineering |
| Sarah L. Codd, Assistant Professor |
Mass Transport |
Mechanical and Industrial Eng. |
| Valerie Copié, Associate Professor |
Biochemistry |
Chemistry and Biochemistry |
| Mensur Dlakic, Assistant Professor |
Bioinformatics |
Microbiology |
| Trevor Douglas, Associate Professor |
Nanomaterials |
Chemistry and Biochemistry |
| Matthew Fields, Assistant Professor |
Microbial Physiology |
Microbiology |
| Christine Foreman, Research Professor |
Microbiology |
CBE/LRES |
| Mike Franklin, Associate Professor |
Microbial Physiology |
Microbiology |
| Gill Geesey, Professor |
Geomicrobiology |
Microbiology |
| Robin Gerlach, Associate Professor |
Biofilm Engineering |
Chemical and Biol. Engineering |
| Bill Inskeep, Professor |
Geomicrobiology |
Land Resources and Environ. Sci. |
| Martin Lawrence, Associate Professor |
Protein Structure |
Chemistry and Biochemistry |
| Lucy Marshall, Assistant Professor |
Mathematics |
Land Resources and Environ. Sci. |
| Tim McDermott, Associate Professor |
Ecophysiology |
Land Resources and Environ. Sci. |
| Rachael Neal, Research Professor |
Analytical Chemistry |
Chemistry and Biochemistry |
| John Peters, Professor |
Protein Structure |
Chemistry and Biochemistry |
| Brent Peyton, Associate Professor |
Chem. Engineering |
Chemical and Biol. Engineering |
| John Priscu, Professor |
Biogeochemistry |
Land Resources and Environ. Sci. |
| Joseph Seymour, Associate Professor |
Transport Phenomena |
Chemical and Biol. Engineering |
| Mark Skidmore, Assistant Professor |
Geomicrobiology |
Earth Sciences |
| Phil Stewart, Professor and Director |
Biofilm Engineering |
Center for Biofilm Engineering |
| Dave Ward, Professor |
Microbial Ecology |
Land Resources and Environ. Sci. |
| Mark Young, Professor |
Virology |
Microbiology and Plant Sciences |
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| Affiliate Faculty, Title |
Expertise |
Institution |
| William Apel, Laboratory Fellow |
Microbiology |
DOE-Idaho National Laboratory |
| Donald Bryant, Professor |
Biochemistry |
Pennsylvania State University |
| Craig Criddle, Professor |
Civil Engineering |
Stanford University |
| Dirk deBeer, Group Leader |
Microsensors |
Max Planck Inst., Germany |
| Jonathan Eisen, Professor |
Evolutionary Biology |
University of California, Davis |
| Scott Fendorf, Associate Professor |
Geochemistry |
Stanford University |
| Bruce Fouke, Assoc. Professor |
Geobiology |
University of Illinois |
| Andreas Kappler, Group Leader |
Geomicrobiology |
University of Tubingen, Germany |
| Kurt Konhauser, Research Chair |
Geomicrobiology |
University of Alberta, Canada |
| Berry Lyons, Professor and Director |
Geochemistry |
Byrd Polar Res. Ctr., Ohio St. Univ. |
| Dianne Newman, Professor |
Molecular Biology |
California Institute of Technology |
| Kirk Nordstrom, Senior Scientist |
Geochemistry |
U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) |
| Anna-Louise Reysenbach, Professor |
Microbiology |
Portland State University |
| Frank Roberto, Senior Scientist |
Microbiology |
DOE-INL |
| Martyn Tranter, Professor |
Biogeochemistry |
Bristol Glaciology Centre, UK |
| John van der Oost, Professor |
Archaeal Genetics |
Wageningen Univ., Netherlands |
| Warwick Vincent, Professor |
Aquatic Polar Ecology |
Universite Laval, Canada |
Table 2. Supporting Courses. A partial list of established and successful graduate-level courses offered by participating IGERT departments and that serve as examples of potential supporting courses for IGERT Ph.D. students.
Course |
Department |
Instructor |
BIOL 503 |
Paleobiology |
Ecology |
Horner |
BIOL 518 |
Parameter Estimation for Ecological Models |
Ecology |
Goodman |
BIOL 540 |
Analysis of Ecological Communities |
Ecology |
Roberts |
CE 529 |
Groundwater Contamination |
Civil Engineering |
Cunningham |
CHEM 524 |
Mass Spectrometry |
Chemistry and Biochemistry |
Bothner |
CHEM 441 |
Biochemistry of Macromolecules |
Chemistry and Biochemistry |
Bothner |
CHEM 526 |
Advanced Protein NMR Spectroscopy |
Chemistry and Biochemistry |
Copie |
CHEM 554 |
Organometallic Chemistry |
Chemistry and Biochemistry |
Peters |
CHBE 525 |
Numerical Solutions in Engineering |
Chem. and Biological. Eng. |
McKittrick |
CHBE 530 |
Transport Phenomena |
Chem. and Biological Eng. |
Seymour |
ENVE 566 |
Fundamentals of Biofilm Engineering |
Civil Engineering |
Gerlach |
ESCI 505 |
Geomicrobiology |
Earth Sciences |
Skidmore |
LRES 515 |
Microbial Ecology |
Land Resour. & Environ. Sci. |
Ward |
LRES 552 |
Adv. Soil and Environmental Microbiology |
Land Resour. & Environ. Sci. |
McDermott |
LRES 555 |
Soil and Aqueous Geochemistry |
Land Resour. & Environ. Sci. |
Inskeep |
LRES 556 |
Energetics in Aquatic Systems |
Land Resour. & Environ. Sci. |
Priscu |
MB 420 |
Microbial Physiology |
Microbiology |
Franklin |
MB 437 |
Molecular Evolution |
Microbiology |
McClure |
MB 449 |
Microbial Genetics |
Microbiology |
Franklin |
MB 528 |
Advanced Microbial Genetics |
Microbiology |
Franklin |
MB 535 |
Genomic Analysis |
Microbiology |
McClure |
MB 537 |
Advances in Molecular Evolution |
Microbiology |
McClure |
VTMB 421 |
Genome Science |
Veterinary Molecular Biology |
White |
VTMB 422 |
Functional Gene Expression |
Veterinary Molecular Biology |
Hardy |
Table 3.International collaborators potentially serving as hosts for IGERT Graduate Internships.
International Partner
|
Institution |
Expertise |
Contribution/ Faculty Contact |
Rune Bakke, Professor |
Telemark University, Norway |
Environmental Technology |
Student exchange in biofilms/ Camper, Gerlach, Stewart |
Dirk deBeer, Group Leader |
Max Planck Inst., Germany |
Microsensors |
Methods of microscale chemical analysis/Camper, Gerlach, Stewart |
Corinne Dorel,
Professor |
Institut National des Sciences Lyon, France |
Biofilm Genetics |
Student exchange in biofilms/ Stewart |
Roger Garrett |
University of Copenhagen, Denmark |
Microbial Genomics |
Genome sequencing, bioinformatics/ Inskeep, McDermott, Young |
Ji-Dong Gu,
Professor |
University of Hong Kong |
Environmental Microbiology |
Research on microbial corrosion, student exchange/ Ford |
Rainer Helmig, Director, VEGAS |
University of Stuttgart, Germany |
Hydrology |
Graduate student exchange/ Cunningham, Gerlach |
Magnus Nyden |
Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden |
Magnetic Resonance Microscopy |
Student research exchanges/ Codd, Seymour |
Igor Koptyug |
International Tomography Center, Novosibirsk, Russia |
Magnetic Resonance Microscopy |
CRDF student exchange/Codd, Seymour |
Andreas Kappler, Group Leader |
University of Tubingen, Germany |
Geomicrobiology |
Geomicrobiology of Fe Cycling, Inskeep, McDermott, Gerlach |
Kurt Konhauser, Research Chair |
University of Alberta, Canada |
Geomicrobiology |
Biomineralization, role of microorganisms in silicification |
Michael Kühl Professor |
University of Copenhagen
Denmark |
Microbial Ecology |
Microelectrode measurements in complex microbial communities/ Ward |
Ramesh Ramachandran |
Inst. of Ocean Management,
Anna University, Chennai, India |
Biogeochemistry |
Research exchange in biogeochemical cycling/ Ford |
Martyn Tranter, Professor |
Bristol Glaciology Centre, UK |
Biogeochemistry |
Student exchange in glacial biogeochem-ical cycling /Adams, Priscu, Skidmore |
John van der Oost, Professor |
Wageningen Univ., Netherlands |
Archaeal Genetics |
Genetic expression systems, microarrays/ Bothner, Inskeep, Peters, Young |
Martin Steiof, Group Leader |
Berlin Technological University, Germany |
Environmental Microbiology |
MSUPartnerUniversity
Gerlach, Cunningham, Camper |
Warwick Vincent, Professor |
Universite Laval, Canada |
Aquatic Polar Ecology |
Student exchange
/Adams, Priscu, Skidmore |
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