Volume 59 of Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry ties together themes common to environmental microbiology, earth science, and astrobiology. The resesarch presented here, the associated short course, and the volume production were supported by funding from many sources, notably the Mineralogical Society of America, the Geochemical Society, the US Department of Energy Chemical Sciences Program and the NASA Astrobiology Institute.

Volume 59 of Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry ties together themes common to environmental microbiology, earth science, and astrobiology. The resesarch presented here, the associated short course, and the volume production were supported by funding from many sources, notably the Mineralogical Society of America, the Geochemical Society, the US Department of Energy Chemical Sciences Program and the NASA Astrobiology Institute.