2024 Marine Microbes Gordon Research Conference and Seminar

This award is supporting travel costs for U.S.-based graduate students and postdoctoral scholars to attend the 2024 Marine Microbes Gordon Research Seminar (GRS, June 8-9) and Gordon Research Conference (GRC, June 9-14). Funding from this award is also emphasizing increasing diversity and will assist members of underrepresented groups in participating in the GRS and GRC. The GRC brings together an international community of researchers working broadly in the field of marine microbiology and microbial oceanography. Topics cover the breadth of marine microbes from viruses to bacteria to archaea to eukaryotic protists, encompassing trophic and evolutionary interactions and effects on global biogeochemical cycles. The GRC facilitates interaction among diverse scientists at all career stages to push the boundaries of science, promoting new ideas and lasting collaboration. Since 2012, the GRS has been added as a two-day conference before the GRC, providing a forum for early-career researchers to present and discuss cutting-edge research, develop a network of peers, connect with mentors, and gain experience and confidence in professional interactions prior to the GRC. The theme for the 2024 Gordon Research Conference (GRC) is “Linking genes, rates, and biogeochemistry in marine microbiology". The meeting is highlighting the need for cross-disciplinary efforts to decipher couplings between genetic makeup, identity, and microbial functionality – and how to scale microbial processes to the global ocean. The Gordon Research Seminar (GRS) theme is “Linking microbial processes to ecosystem functions,” similarly focusing on understanding ecological function using interconnected ‘omics data and studying physiology and function across scales. The emphasis on novel and unpublished research creates a forum for honest dialogue to debate controversial and challenging ideas. Funds from this award are supporting registration costs and partial travel for US-based graduate students and postdoctoral scientists to attend the GRS and GRC. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.