The Anthropocene, a proposed geological epoch characterized by significant human influence on Earth's ecosystems, has seen dramatic changes in environmental microbiomes due to urbanization, industrialization, pollution, and climate change. These changes affect not only soil and water microbiomes but also those within human bodies, altering fundamental ecological and health processes.
Conversely, microorganisms are resilient in the face of anthropogenic disruption due to their capacity for rapid adaptation, thriving in even in the most contaminated environments and are used to develop remediation strategies.
Understanding the interplay between microbiomes and human-driven environmental changes is crucial for learning to live on a damaged planet.
Questions we are investigating in this topic are:
How can the microbiomes of contaminated sites teach us responsible stewardship?
What are the ethical implications of ‘harnessing’ microbial mechanisms - how do you ask consent of a microbe?
Title | Type | Venue | Date | People | Topics | Projects | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
TalkPoster PresentationSymposium | Bioremediation Symposium 2025 | 06/24/2025 | Hao-Wei Shih Karolina Sulich Elizabeth Hénaff | Microbiomes and the Anthropocene | Gowanus Canal Microbiome | www.battelle.org | |
TalkExhibit | Museum of Modern Art | 06/13/2025 | Karolina Sulich Elizabeth Hénaff | Microbiomes and the Anthropocene | Gowanus Canal Microbiome | ||
PressOutreach | NYU Tandon Newsletter | 05/13/2024 | Hao-Wei Shih Karolina Sulich Caroline Chou Elizabeth Hénaff | Microbiomes and the Anthropocene | Gowanus Canal Microbiome | engineering.nyu.edu | |
Conference PresentationExhibitLLIAward | 2023 BioDesign Challenge, Museum of Modern Art, NYC | 06/22/2023 → 06/23/2023 | Sheila Atieno Diedre Brown Tori Coleman Ands Sanchez Anshika Srivastava | Holobiont Interactions Microbiomes and the Anthropocene Biological Metrics and Design | Aerobiomes as seen by Honeybees | www.biodesignchallenge.org | |
Award | Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY | 06/23/2023 | Ands Sanchez Sheila Atieno Tori Coleman Diedre Brown Anshika Srivastava | Microbiomes and the Anthropocene | Aerobiomes as seen by Honeybees | www.biodesignchallenge.org | |
Publication | Environmental Microbiome | 2023-03-30 | Elizabeth Hénaff | Microbiomes and the Anthropocene | environmentalmicrobiome.biomedcentral.com | ||
Exhibit | Open Source Gallery | 06/29/2023 | Elizabeth Hénaff | Microbiomes and the Anthropocene | open-source-gallery.org | ||
Press | PopSci | 2023-03-31 | Tori Coleman Ands Sanchez Rabtah Jinan Adriana St. Clair | Microbiomes and the Anthropocene | Aerobiomes as seen by Honeybees | www.popsci.com | |
Press | New York | 2022-04-08 | Elizabeth Hénaff | Microbiomes and the Anthropocene | Gowanus Canal Microbiome | www.curbed.com | |
AwardExhibitLLI | NYU Tandon School of Engineering | 04/26/2024 | Hao-Wei Shih Caroline Chou Karolina Sulich Elizabeth Hénaff | Microbiomes and the Anthropocene | Gowanus Canal Microbiome | engineering.nyu.edu | |
Talk | CCCB Centre de Cultura Contemporanea de Barcelona | 2021-11-22 | Elizabeth Hénaff | Microbiomes and the Anthropocene | www.cccb.org |
