Badgley, Brian D.Boyer, Renee R.Dufour, MoniqueHe, Zhen (Jason)Hungerford, Laura L.Kiechle, Melanie A.Kuhn, David D.Lawrence, Christopher B.Marr, Linsey C.Melville, Stephen B.Pierson, F. WilliamPopham, David L.Senger, Ryan S.Sumner, Susan S.Vinatzer, Boris A.Schmale, David G. IIIStevens, Ann M.2017-10-062017-10-062017-05-15http://hdl.handle.net/10919/79533Microorganisms are absolutely critical to myriad aspects of the human existence. As a field of study, microbiology could and should serve a greater role on our campus, as it has key connections with many of the Destination and Strategic Growth Areas. We propose the development of a broad concept area in microbiology that will serve as a nexus, as it is applied to solve critical global challenges related to food, energy, water and health, by bridging across multiple disciplines at Virginia Tech (VT). There is increasing recognition of microbes as a driving force in natural and managed environments, biological processes, and ecological structure. Conversely, the importance of culture and individual behavior in affecting microbial communities has also become apparent....enCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United StatesReportHungerford, Laura L. [0000-0002-5680-6746]