Evolutionary Processes
Understanding the process of biological evolution, not simply from the perspective of individual organisms but also from the perspective of entire ecosystems, is an important focus of ESI. Researchers within the program are active in studies aimed at constraining the origin of life on Earth (and elsewhere in the Solar System) and the pace of biological evolution through geologic time. Studies of modern biological systems focus on the connection between life processes at the molecular level and the dynamics of the biosphere on a global level.
Funded Projects:
Dynamical Change in Global Biogeochemical Cycles Accompanying Early Animal Evolution
PI: Daniel Rothman
co-I: Roger Summons
Presaging Paleoprotenozoic Global Change: Geobiology of the Late Archaen Eon
PI: Roger Summons
Requirements for the Development and Maintenanceof Multicellular Life
PI: Roger Summons
The Earthtime Network: Developing an Infrastructure for High Resolution Calibration of Earth History
PI: Sam Bowring
Indicators of Global Biogeochemical Transitions
PI: Roger Summons
Ecophysiology of Deeply-Branching Bacterial and Archael Communities
PI: Roger Summons