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Prerequisites: One full year of college level biology.

The microbial world dominates the biosphere in terms of biomass, diversity, and metabolic flexibility. This is a course designed to introduce students to collecting, observing, and identifying live representatives of these fascinating microbial organisms including bacteria, protists, fungi, and microscopic animals. Students will be instructed in the taxonomy and ecology of the basic groups of micro-organisms while learning to collect them in the field for observation, experimentation and culturing. Field observations will be emphasized along with the proper use of light microscopes. Current methods such as fluorescent microscopy, staining including DAPI and FISH, sterile technique, and culturing will be covered during laboratory sessions. SML is an ideal location for a course of this type due to the many habitats available including marine coastal environments, intertidal environments, and hundreds of small ponds of varying salinity, nutrient status, and oxygenation. Since many protists are relatively fragile and best studied in the field before more detailed observation in the laboratory, each student will be supplied with a portable field microscope to permit effective field surveys and observations of fresh live material at their study sites. CLICK HERE to see FME students in action from 2007!
Faculty:
Dr. Erik Zettler, (pictured above with FME students) Sea Education Association
Dr. Linda Amaral-Zettler, Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole

CLICK BELOW FOR QUICKTIME MOVIES – Please be patient, they take a minute to load!!
AMOEBA MOVIE
CILIATE MOVIE
Some of these images were captured using field microscopes that students will learn to use in THIS course! 
FME Student testimonial from
Isaac Greenhut, Cornell College of Agriculture and Life-Sciences '08:
“The Field Microbial Ecology Course of 2007 was an adventure and a challenge unlike anything found within the confines of a typical university classroom. My two weeks in that class were my introduction to field research, marine biology, and microbes; none of which are readily available at a land-locked research institution. Hands-on experience surveying the microbial habitats on Appledore Island has inspired me to include field research as part of my long-term career goals. The classes are fast-paced and the instructors bring
together classical microbiology and state of the art research techniques, giving me valuable insight into subsequent microbiology and ecology courses. My classmates were diverse in age and experience, and the overall shared memory will last a lifetime.  For anyone who loves the ocean, the outdoors, and working with microscopes, two weeks in the Palmer-Kinne Lab will be among your favorite four credits for any semester of your college career."