3:53 p.m., Nov. 3, 2010----David L. Kirchman, Maxwell P. and Mildred H. Harrington Professor of Marine Biosciences, will present his Francis Alison Inaugural Lecture, “A Journey Into our Unseen World: Marine Microbes and Global Cyces,” at 4 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 17, at the Roselle Center for the Arts.

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Kirchman received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1982, and he joined the UD faculty in 1986. His research focuses on the role of microbes in the carbon cycle and in other biogeochemical processes of the oceans.

Carried out in collaboration with colleagues and students, his work has demonstrated that microbes are the most abundant organism in the biosphere, are important in marine food webs, and are responsible for mediating many critical chemical reactions in nature. Kirchman's research has taken him and his students to most of the world's oceans, from the Arctic to Antarctica.

In addition to his research and teaching activities, Kirchman previously served as program director and associate dean of the College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment.

Kirchman was named the recipient of the 2010 Francis Alison Faculty Award in May. The University's highest faculty honor, the Alison Award was established in 1978 by the Board of Trustees and is bestowed annually on the faculty member who best characterizes “the scholar-schoolmaster,” as exemplified by the Rev. Dr. Francis Alison, who in 1743, founded the institution that is now the University of Delaware. His first class of students became distinguished statesmen, doctors, merchants, and scholars. Three signed the Declaration of Independence and one the U.S. Constitution.

A reception will follow Kirchman's lecture. Please respond to [provost-office@udel.edu] by Friday, Nov. 12, if you plan to attend.