|
Collaborating in synergistic ways to better understand life on earth and to invent the future - now!
 At Portland State University, one of mankind's most enduring questions is being asked: Does life exist on other planets?
The entire world seems to have become their laboratory as an intrepid group of researchers approaches the equivalent of an academic critical mass in PSU's Center for Life in Extreme Environments or CLEE. To a cross disciplinary team of adventuresome faculty, the answer is as easy as A, B, C ... astronomy, biology, chemistry and a host of other sciences and disciplines dedicated to studying microbes in the hottest and coldest reaches of our planet.
PSU, with the support of philanthropic individuals, foundations and corporate supporters, has been able to recruit and retain some of the world's leading academics. This outstanding team has been able to attract some of the brightest young minds and graduate students to participate in their amazing synergy of academic collaboration. In time, these young "extremists" are helping to ask new questions, revisit old questions with new vigor, and push the envelope of understanding.
PSU's CLEE is rapidly being recognized as one of the most exciting and challenging ventures in academia today. This group of researchers includes microbiologists, biogeochemists, paleobiologists, geologists, chemists, and engineers. Leading publications such as Time, U.S. News and World Report, National Geographic, Science and Nature have been making big stories out of these tiny microbes and their hardy pursuers. Many of the faculty members of America's "biggest little think-tank" have been guests on CNN and PBS as they share their findings with an ever increasing audience of lay people who want to know the answers to some of these ageless questions regarding the origins of life.
 The industrial world is taking note, too. For example, the world's earliest and smallest forms of life are proving to be masters of recycling. They are responsible for the creation of natural gas and transforming materials into organic soils. Mankind's potential for increasing our energy and agricultural resources are being enhanced by PSU's CLEE findings and studies. New understandings have introduced new applications to the research and processing of tomorrow's pharmaceutical and bio-medical developments as well. And, most importantly, perhaps can give us a clue as to whether life exists on other planets.
The CLEE team is a world leader in an emerging science combining microbiology and chemistry. The team proposes to extend this research and explore adaptive technologies in natural ecosystems. Undoubtedly, the success and continual development of PSU's CLEE has profound implications in understanding not only the origins of life, but the microbial adaptations and applications that may help us reduce and convert toxic gases and liquids that pollute our world today into materials that enhance and diversify our biosphere tomorrow.
CLEE and its scientists are supported by the W.M. Keck Foundation, National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, and NASA.
|
