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Microorganisms have inhabited the Earth for 3.4 billion years of its history, there are essential for the evolution of its minerals, its major geochemical cycles, and its atmosphere, yet the extent of their diversity, their metabolic capabilities, and their ecosystem-level interactions remain vastly unexplored.

Understanding the link between the geochemistry we observe and the large-scale impact of microbial activity is not only critical if we want to learn more about our own biosphere, and how to better conserve and protect the environment, but it is also essential if we want to interpret the molecular signatures we observe from extraterrestrial environments.

Microorganisms that live in extreme environments, such as deep-sea hydrothermal vents, hypersaline environments, and extremely dry deserts - where insults to cellular components are intense - have evolved robust adaptive mechanisms and most are members of the third domain of life, the Archaea.

Planets and moons we have explored so far harbor extreme environmental conditions with analogs in some of the most remote and punishing place on Earth. Characterizing microbial activity in environments that can he used as proxies for extraterrestrial habitats will provide tools to draw inferences for signs of life on other planets.

At the molecular level, we focus on adaptive mechanisms of extremophiles to environmental stresses and at the ecosystem level, we study the drivers of microbial genetic diversity and dispersion in extreme environments.

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	Microbial Genomics
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