Dr. David Kirchman will present “Journey into an Unseen World: Why Marine Microbes Matter” at the final talk of the 2012 University of Texas Marine Science Institute’s public lecture series today, Thursday, March 22.

The series is free and open to the public. Doors open at the UTMSI Visitor’s Center auditorium on Cotter Ave. near the beach, at 6:30 p.m. The lecture begins at 7 p.m.

Kirchman is a professor at the School of Marine Science and Policy at the University of Delaware. His research interests include microbial ecology and bacteria in estuaries and oceans and the role of microbes in the carbon cycle. To learn more about his work go to http://www.ceoe.udel.edu/people/profile. aspx?kirchman.