Report on Workshop on "Bioaerosols in the Earth System"

SONIA KREIDENWEIS, Allison Aiken, Kathleen Weathers, et al., Colorado State University

     Abstract Number: 134
     Working Group: Bioaerosols

Abstract
Microbial communities are increasingly recognized as integral components of the Earth system, but the role of airborne microbes—the aerobiome—is not yet fully understood. While the dispersal of pathogens and allergens has long been studied due to implications for health and agriculture, recent research has expanded to consider the broader potential environmental functions of bioaerosols, which are hypothesized to include impacts on climate and ecology. The COVID-19 pandemic further amplified attention to bioaerosols by revealing critical knowledge gaps in aerosol behavior and factors governing pathogen viability during transport. At the same time, advances in sequencing technologies—especially for ultra-low biomass samples—have enabled deeper characterization of airborne microbial communities, even in remote and extreme environments such as polar regions and high-altitude sites, that have revealed the widespread nature and incredible diversity of atmospheric bioaerosols.

Efforts are underway to integrate various bioaerosol types and their diverse sources into regional and global Earth system models, to provide a more comprehensive understanding of their ecological and climatological roles. However, progress is hindered by lack of data on emissions rates, transformations in the atmosphere, interactions with the environment across local to global scales, and sparse monitoring data for model validation. Further progress also requires increased interdisciplinary collaboration across atmospheric science, biology, ecology, chemistry, engineering, and other disciplines.

We report on findings from a recent workshop, “Bioaerosols in the Earth System”, that convened researchers from diverse fields to review emerging findings, identify persistent gaps, and explore new directions for innovation. The workshop aimed to catalyze collaboration and to begin to chart a path toward transformative research and practical advancements in understanding environmental bioaerosols.