David Montgomery and Anne Biklé will be in Plainfield Tuesday evening to speak about microbiomes and how they impact multiple facets of our lives. The Seattle-based husband and wife team are coauthors of the book The Hidden Half of Nature which examines both soil and human-based microbes.The couple will speak atGoddard College's Haybarn Theatreas part of a semiannual speaker series sponsored by the libraries and the conservation commissions in the towns of Plainfield and Marshfield. Loona Brogan is director of Cutler Memorial Library, in Plainfield. She says the authors bring a unique perspective to the study of microbial ecology.
"Their approach as a husband and wife team was to look at not only the ecological, environmental implications of what science is starting to understand about what happens at the microscopic level, but also in health and in terms of what's going on inside of and on our bodies," Brogan explains.
Montgomery and Biklé's talk will cover microbial implications in the fields of agriculture, gardening, forestry, environmental management, wellness and health care.
Montgomery teaches at the University of Washington, Seattle, has given invited TED talks and won a MacArthur Fellowship in 2008. Biklé is a biologist who has studied watershed restoration, environmental planning and public health.
"We feel like it's really a coup to be able to bring speakers of their caliber to such a small town," says Brogan.
Admission to Tuesday's talk is by donation. Brogan says all donations will be put toward bringing another speaker to the area in the spring.
