What: Dr. Michael McCormick, Ph. D., Associate Professor of Biology at Hamilton College, will speak on Producing Electricity with Bacteria and Other Explorations in Solid-State Respiration.   This event, free and open to the Trinity community, is sponsored by the Trinity College Biology Department.  There will be a reception at noon in the Life Sciences Center Library.

When: Thursday, November 5, 2009 ~ 12:15 p.m.  

Where: Life Sciences Center Room 134 on the campus on Trinity College
300 Summit Street, Hartford, Conn. 06106

Background: 
Dr. Michael McCormick, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Biology of Hamilton College, will speak on how solid-state respiration, or the use of a solid phase as an electron acceptor to support cell respiration, likely represents an early adaptation by life on Earth to exploit metal oxides as oxidants. This ability has been most extensively studied in the iron-reducing bacteria, bacteria that respire insoluble iron oxides.  Recently, it’s been learned that iron-reducing bacteria can be used to generate electricity by replacing the iron oxides with solid electrodes connected to a circuit. These devices, termed microbial fuel cells (MFCs), hold promise as a low-voltage renewable energy source for the future. MFCs also provide a novel method for investigating the physiology of solid-state respiring bacteria. In this talk, McCormick will review solid-state respiration and the principles of operation of microbial fuel cells with reference to experimental work under way in his lab.

This event is free and open to the Trinity community.  For more information, please contact Ann St. Amand at 860/297-2537, or by email at Ann.StAmand@trincoll.edu.
 

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