Logan to zoom in on the importance of microbial ecology in the Namib desert
Robert Logan, a Scientist from Gobabeb will hold a talk focused on ‘Tiny creatures big jobs: The important and awesome role of microbes in the Namib desert’ on 31 January, at 19:00 in the Swakopmund Museum Lecture Hall.
His talk on microbial ecology in the Namib desert aims to make this interesting topic understandable to the laymen.
Logan will also talk about the microbes of Namib Desert, where they are, how they live in such a dry landscape and the important role they play in the desert ecosystem overall. He will show how microbes like their larger relatives, must also find ways to tolerate the many stresses of life in a hot, dry desert.
During his talk he will explain how these bacteria and fungi live many different lifestyles in every habitat across the desert, whether they are swimming around in saltwater springs, residing under rocks on dry gravel plains, gliding in on fog from the ocean or even living inside the tissue of live plants.
“In all of these habitats, they perform important jobs, without which, many of the plants and animals that we recognise and love could not survive,” he said.
Logan has worked in the Namib since 2012 and is currently a PhD Candidate in Dr. Sarah Evan’s Lab at Michigan State University. He works as Training Coordinator and a research technician at the Gobabeb Research and Training Centre, where he conducts filed research in collaboration with Gobabeb researcher.