About EBI
Established in 1999 with funding by NASA, the Thermal Biology Institute (TBI) was a multidisciplinary team of scientists forging a new path in scientific discovery focused on the interrelated biological, physical, and chemical processes of high temperature environments, particularly in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. In the last decade, the research environment at Montana State has changed. In its early days, most TBI-faculty worked on fundamental problems in biology and ecology with the goal of revealing the hidden microorganismal diversity of high temperature ecosystems. In the last several years, new faculty working on related but independent problems were hired and the focus of some established faculty has shifted towards more applied problems, including findings ways to exploit extreme microorganisms for biotechnology. In addition, MSU faculty study biological systems that are not high temperature but are just as extreme at the ecosystems in Yellowstone National Park, including glacial ecosystems in the Arctic and Antarctic, permafrost, oxygen minimum zones, coal beds, heavy metal bioremediation sites, and the deep sea. To pay credit to this diverse research portfolio, in 2026 the TBI was renamed the Extreme Biology Institute (EBI). Bringing diverse research trajectories under one umbrella institute enables new cross-disciplinary interactions, leads to forging new collaborations and, in consequence, new opportunities in research funding, teaching, and exposure of MSU’s mission to the public.
Imperial Geyser
The EBI is currently composed of 18 faculty representing expertise in microbiology, biochemistry, geochemistry, physiology, virology, ecology, biological and chemical engineering, plant and animal physiology, and environmental physics. In addition to an emphasis on multidisciplinary research, the EBI promotes interdisciplinary learning through a strong educational component that incorporates undergraduate, graduate, and post-doctoral training. The EBI engages in productive K-12 outreach, runs a summer continuing education course for science teachers, as well as NSF-funded education efforts for MSU undergraduates (NSF REU) and PhD students (NSF NRT). We also work with Yellowstone Forever, the non-profit arm of Yellowstone National Park, on developing outreach resources.
EBI faculty represent some of the best researchers in microbiology, biochemistry, geochemistry, virology, ecology, chemistry, biochemistry, earth science, engineering, environmental science, and plant sciences. Our faculty members are extremely productive and have utilized EBI research funds to leverage additional support from a variety of competitive grant programs including the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Department of Energy (DOE), the Department of Defense (DoD), as well as private foundations, including the Keck, Simons, and Gordon and Betty Moore Foundations. From 2023-2025, TBI faculty have published 45 publications in peer reviewed journals, including studies in premiere journals in the field: Nature, Science Advances, Nature Microbiology, PNAS, and Nature Communications.
The long-term goal of the EBI is to understand how organisms respond and adapt to the unique physical and chemical features of extreme ecosystems. We are committed to furthering scientific understandings of the extreme limits of life on our planet and working to ensure a sustainable future for research and outreach.
Mushroom hot spring and the bacterium Thermus aquaticus
Many extreme environments, like the diverse geothermal features of Yellowstone National Park, represent a large, untapped potential for the biotechnology and biofuel industry. The most prominent example for this is the discovery of the heat-stable enzyme Taq-polymerase - essentially a photocopy machine that replicates DNA - by Thomas Brock. Funded by a grant by the National Science Foundation, Tom Brock and undergraduate Hudson Freeze discovered the thermophilic bacterium Thermus aquaticus in Mushroom hot spring in 1966. By 1976, Tom had isolated the heat-stable enzyme from the bacterium. In 1983, Kary Mullis invented the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) that used this enzyme to replicate DNA in a laboratory setting. In 1993, Mullis received the Nobel Prize for his invention. The importance of Brock’s and Mullis’ work cannot be overstated. The invention of PCR was so transformative to biology and medicine that it has “virtually divided biology into the two epochs of before PCR and after PCR” (The New York Times). Today, the production of Taq-polymerase and its relatives is a billion dollar industry, and PCR is the foundation for human genome sequencing, Covid- and influenza-tests, cancer mutation detection, identifying congenital disorders, crime scene analysis, victim identification, paternity tests, and the detection of many diseases of plants and animals (e.g., brucellosis in cattle, blue tongue disease in deer in Montana). All that because two curious researchers wanted to study extreme bacteria!
Learn more about us
Matters Microbial #59: Some (Microbes) Like It Hot—Discussions with the Thermal Biology Institute
Hear from Brent Peyton, Dana Skorupa, Zackary Jay, Anthony Kohtzy discuss the TBI alongside host Mark O. Martin in the MicrobeTV podcast Matters Microbial on Youbtube