CEE 4510

Microbiology for Environmental Engineering

Course Description

Course information provided by the 2025-2026 Catalog.

Introduction to the fundamental aspects of microbiology and biochemistry that are pertinent to environmental engineering and science. Provides an overview of the characteristics of Bacteria, Archaea, unicellular Eukaryotes (protozoa, algae, fungi), and viruses. Includes discussions of cell structure, bioenergetics and metabolism, and microbial genetics. Focus is then applied to topics pertinent to environmental engineering: pathogens; disease and immunity; environmental influences on microorganisms; roles of microbes in the carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur cycles; enzymes; bioremediation, bioenergy, molecular microbiology; and microbial ecology.

Prerequisites REF-FA25/Corequisites REF-FA25 CHEM 2090 and CHEM 1570, or permission of instructor. Corequisites: None.

Exploratory Studies (CU-SBY)

Last 4 terms offered (None)

Outcomes REF-FA25

• Recognize, name and predict important properties of key classes of organic compounds pertinent to both environmental contamination and biomolecules.
• Comprehend the organization and behavior of different types of microbial cells.
• Understand the diversity of microbial physiological and biochemical reactions.
• Describe key features of the informational macromolecules (DNA,RNA, and protein) and modern techniques for analyzing them in environmentally-relevant contexts.
• Make quantitative estimates of the impact of microbes on natural and engineered processes.

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