Microbiomes and the Anthropocene

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
The Birds and the Bees (of Engineering)	Press	The Unconventional Engineer	11/19/2025	Elizabeth Hénaff	Microbiomes and the Anthropocene	Aerobiomes as seen by Honeybees, Gowanus Canal Microbiome	engineering.nyu.edu
Living Interfaces Lab Showcases Research at 2025 Bioremediation Symposium	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
LAMP-PCR biosensor top 8 finalist at Bio Design Challenge 2025	TalkExhibit	Museum of Modern Art	06/13/2025	Karolina Sulich Elizabeth Hénaff	Microbiomes and the Anthropocene	Gowanus Canal Microbiome
Gowanus team wins first prize at Tandon Research Expo	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
tHrIVE	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
tHrIVE wins the Science Sandbox Prize for Public Engagement at the 2023 Biodesign Challenge	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
Holobiont Urbanism: sampling urban beehives reveals cities’ metagenomes	Publication	Environmental Microbiome	2023-03-30	Elizabeth Hénaff	Microbiomes and the Anthropocene		environmentalmicrobiome.biomedcentral.com
PRECIPITATE | Open Source Gallery	Exhibit	Open Source Gallery	06/29/2023	Elizabeth Hénaff	Microbiomes and the Anthropocene		open-source-gallery.org
Beehives are the honeypot for a city’s microbial secrets	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
The Invisible Scrubbers at the Bottom of the Gowanus / Curbed	Press	New York	2022-04-08	Elizabeth Hénaff	Microbiomes and the Anthropocene	Gowanus Canal Microbiome	www.curbed.com
2024 Tandon Research Excellence Exhibit	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
The Urban Microbiome - Conversation with Elizabeth Hénaff and Núria Conde	Talk	CCCB Centre de Cultura Contemporanea de Barcelona	2021-11-22	Elizabeth Hénaff	Microbiomes and the Anthropocene		www.cccb.org