CSS410   The GMO Debate: Environmental Impacts (Spring, 3 cr)
CSS674   Topics in Soil Microbial Ecology (Alternate Fall, 1 cr)
CSS684   Environmental Genomics (Alternate Fall, 2 cr)

    Microbial Earth Workshop

We live on a microbial earth. If we happen to consider microbes in our daily lives most people conjure images of disease, but our world was teeming with microorganisms for more than three billion years before the rise of multicellular life and most microbes are not only benign, they beneficially regulate the nutrient cycles that sustain our world. The microbial world is brimming with examples of evolution at work, and because of their small size and rapid growth rates, microbes provide an excellent opportunity to allow students to see evolution at work and to understand the ecological principles that govern the biosphere.
For information on workshop activities check out: 2007 Microbial Earth Workshop Website 2006 Microbial Earth Workshop Website
The Microbial Earth workshop was conceived to enhance the teaching of evolution and ecology in high schools by providing science teachers with examples from the microbial world. The weeklong workshop was designed to showcase the vast microbial diversity that hides in plain sight all around us and to reveal how microbes can be used to enhance student understanding of both fundamental biological principles and the scientific method. Workshop modules emphasize: evolution, diversity, ecology, and symbiosis. The workshop culminates with a nighttime excursion to observe microbial energy production in action through a recreation of the classic Volta experiment. In this exercise methane produced by methanogenic microbes is collected from a pond on the Cornell campus and used to create a fireball, which lights up the night, producing a visible demonstration of the power of the microbial world. Follow this link to download a video of a methane fireball created during the Volta experiment.
More than 80 high school science teachers from New York State and across the nation have attended workshop activities. In post workshop assessments, 100 percent of participants stated that they would use some or all of the laboratory activities in their own classrooms. In addition, 100 perrcent of the respondents strongly agreed that they would recommend this workshop to a colleague. Comments from the participants included the following: "Outstanding presentation of fascinating topic.", "You stretched my brain and gave me information, ideas and labs I can use in my class.", "Very well prepared, very organized, easy to understand; very interesting, great people skills - loved it!!".	Observing iron and manganese oxidizing bacteria with Dr. Bill Ghiorse in Sapsucker Woods.
The Microbial Earth Workshop is a collaboration between the Departments of Crop and Soil Sciences, Microbiology, and the Cornell Institute for Biology Teachers, and is funded through support from an NSF CAREER award the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

    Microbe World Radio

Dr. Buckley has been featured in two interviews on the MicrobeWorld radio show which is broadcast on more than 90 public and commercial stations across the US and in more than 100 countries via Armed Forces Radio.

To hear podcasts of these episodes follow the following links:
           Soil microbes and pharmaceuticals
           Microbial Earth

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