Programs

  • Microbial Carbon Capture Initiative

    IN 2024, THE TWO FRONTIERS PROJECT ADVANCED ITS CARBON INITIATIVE, FOCUSED ON DISCOVERING AND CHARACTERIZING NOVEL MICROORGANISMS THAT NATURALLY CAPTURE AND RECYCLE CARBON. THE TEAM CONDUCTED FIELDWORK IN JAPAN AND PAPUA NEW GUINEA, ISOLATING AND ANALYZING CYANOBACTERIA SUCH AS THE NEWLY IDENTIFIED CHONKUS LINEAGE CAPABLE OF ENHANCED CARBON FIXATION IN EXTREME ENVIRONMENTS. THESE DISCOVERIES SUPPORTED THE DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW LABORATORY AND DATA PLATFORM FOR ASSESSING MICROBIAL CARBON-CAPTURE POTENTIAL. THE ORGANIZATION ALSO LAUNCHED COMPLEMENTARY CITIZEN SCIENCE PROGRAMS, INCLUDING "IN YOUR HOME AND "IN THE WILD", WHICH TRAINED MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC TO COLLECT ENVIRONMENTAL SAMPLES FOR ANALYSIS. EDUCATIONAL WORKSHOPS ACCOMPANYING THESE PROGRAMS INTRODUCED PARTICIPANTS TO MICROBIOLOGY, CULTURING TECHNIQUES, AND THE ROLE OF MICROORGANISMS IN MITIGATING POLLUTION AND MAINTAINING ECOSYSTEM BALANCE.
    Geographies
    Not indicated
    Dates
    Mar 19, 2024 – Dec 31, 2024
    Source
    990
    No causes provided
    No populations provided
    –
    $114.1K

  • Crops Initiative for Agricultural Research

    THROUGH ITS CROPS INITIATIVE, THE TWO FRONTIERS PROJECT BEGAN BUILDING A RESEARCH PLATFORM TO IDENTIFY AND CULTURE MICROORGANISMS THAT ENHANCE AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY, WATER RETENTION, AND PLANT RESILIENCE UNDER DROUGHT AND NUTRIENT STRESS. IN 2024, THE ORGANIZATION CONDUCTED AN EXPEDITION TO THE MOJAVE DESERT TO STUDY NATURALLY STRESS-ADAPTED MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES ASSOCIATED WITH DESERT FLORA AND SOIL CRUSTS. THESE FINDINGS INFORMED THE DESIGN OF FUTURE EXPERIMENTS FOCUSED ON BIOLOGICAL SUPPORT SYSTEMS FOR REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE. CONCURRENTLY, 2FP EXPANDED ITS LABORATORY INFRASTRUCTURE FOR MICROBIAL ISOLATION, CULTURE, AND FUNCTIONAL TESTING, LAYING THE GROUNDWORK FOR A SCALABLE DATABASE AND OPEN TOOLKIT FOR ENVIRONMENTAL AND CROP-ASSOCIATED MICROBIOME RESEARCH.
    Geographies
    Not indicated
    Dates
    Mar 19, 2024 – Dec 31, 2024
    Source
    990
    No causes provided
    No populations provided
    –
    $106.3K

  • Coral Initiative for Microbial Research

    THE CORAL INITIATIVE FOCUSED ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF OPEN-SOURCE BIOINFORMATIC SOFTWARE AND WORKFLOWS FOR ANALYZING CORAL-ASSOCIATED MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES. THE ORGANIZATION ADVANCED TWO FLAGSHIP TOOLS MAGUS (HTTPS://GITHUB.COM/TWO-FRONTIERS-PROJECT/2FP_MAGUS, FOR METAGENOMIC ASSEMBLY AND BINNING) AND XTREE (HTTPS://GITHUB.COM/TWO-FRONTIERS-PROJECT/2FP-XTREE, FOR TAXONOMIC AND FUNCTIONAL ALIGNMENT)WHICH TOGETHER ENABLE HIGH-RESOLUTION PROFILING OF CORAL METAGENOMES. IN PARALLEL, 2FP ESTABLISHED STANDARDIZED LABORATORY PROTOCOLS FOR ISOLATING AND CULTURING BENEFICIAL MICROORGANISMS FROM CORAL ECOSYSTEMS. THESE EFFORTS FORM THE FOUNDATION FOR ONGOING RESEARCH INTO MICROBIAL PROCESSES THAT INFLUENCE CORAL HEALTH, RESILIENCE, AND POLLUTANT BREAKDOWN. ALL METHODS, CODE, AND REFERENCE DATA GENERATED THROUGH THIS PROGRAM WERE MADE FREELY AVAILABLE TO THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY, SUPPORTING GLOBAL EFFORTS TO SAFEGUARD REEF ECOSYSTEMS AND COASTAL WATER QUALITY.
    Geographies
    Not indicated
    Dates
    Mar 19, 2024 – Dec 31, 2024
    Source
    990
    No causes provided
    No populations provided
    –
    $7.2K