Grant: Canada Research Chairs

The objective of the Canada Research Chair in Continental Subsurface Microbiomes is to investigate the diversity, ecology and biogeochemical functioning of microbial communities in subsurface aquifer ecosystems, based on culture approaches and complementary molecular methods (genomics and metagenomics). The proposed research will provide an integrative broad-scale analysis of microbial community dynamics in aquifer ecosystems, greatly expanding our understanding of microbial structure and metabolisms in subsurface habitats. The research program will be fundamental in linking surface aquatic environments, supplying aquifer systems, with subsurface ecosystems, and will be important in understanding how subsurface communities respond to fluctuations in surface conditions. This research will focus on all domains of life composing microbial communities leading to a comprehensive view of underground communities.