Dr. Peter Girguis discussed Sea For Yourself: How Deep Sea Processes Affect your Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness.

Peter Girguis' research resides at the crossroads of microbial ecology, physiology, and biogeochemistry, and as such is highly interdisciplinary. He uses the appropriate combinations of molecular biology (e.g., genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, qPCR, mutagenesis), as well as physiological and geochemical techniques (gas chromatography, in situ and laboratory mass spectrometry, in situ and laboratory isotope analyses, x-ray diffraction, atomic spectroscopy) to examine the relationship between microbial diversity/physiology and biogeochemical cycles. Due to the limitations of existing in situ measurement and incubation technologies, he and his lab have develop novel instruments and samplers that enable them to better study microbial-geochemical relationships. This includes high-pressure systems to mimic natural environments, in situ geochemical sensors, in situ microbial fuel cells as experimental apparatus and power sources, and novel in situ preservation technologies.