Bigger is not always better when it comes to shaping the Earth. Volcanoes, earthquakes, and massive glaciers have certainly changed the landscape, but in some cases the agents of change are too small to see unaided. Throughout Earth's history, communities of bacteria have played a role in forming some of the world's oldest rocks. Texas A&M geologist Mike Tice and his students in the Evolutionary and Historical Geobiology Lab are studying modern bacteria under controlled laboratory conditions to gain insight into how their ancestors changed geological history and how life in extreme environments, such as other planets, might look.

Every fall, scientists begin to watch for signs of developing harmful algal blooms along the Texas coast, which can be counted on to upset the ecological balance, disrupt seafood harvesting, and pose hazards to humans and fish, birds and marine mammals. Texas A&M oceanographer Lisa Campbell uses an instrument that helps forecast the arrival and intensity of these unwelcome guests. Campbell, who also has a joint appointment in the Biology department, studies the red tide phenomenon in the Gulf of Mexico caused by an organism called Karenia brevis.

The weekend of Oct. 13–15, 2011 promises to be one to remember for 15 talented Texas high school students as the Texas A&M College of Geosciences hosts its Third Annual Investigate Geosciences (iGeo) Fall Weekend Program.

The students in this fall's Global Science and Policy Making class, part of the College of Geosciences' Environmental Programs curriculum, will get big-name speakers at the fraction of the cost, courtesy of technology.

Texas A&M atmospheric scientist Courtney Schumacher and five students are joining an international team of researchers in the Indian Ocean to study how weather in that region affects conditions around the world. The project, Dynamics of the Madden-Julian Oscillation, or DYNAMO, runs from Oct. 1 through Mar. 31. The Texas A&M group will be stationed at the main research site on Addu Atoll in the Maldives islands, where they will do radar research for the full six-month period.