INSITE’s vision is to discern key indicators of climate change through a microbial lens and develop useful methods that predict the potential for biodiversity loss- thereby offering insight for informed responses to alleviate such devastation. To better predict the trajectory of biodiversity under climate change, we need to assess how hosts and their beneficial microbes will respond to the rapidly shifting climate. This information is key to developing models that can accurately predict how species will be affected and whether they can adapt.

The specific goals of INSITE are to (i.) guide the expansion and generalization of model systems for use in predicting response and acclimatization to environmental change; (ii.) train the next generation of researchers to think integratively across disciplines and systems; and (iii.) educate K-12 students and the public about the importance of symbiosis in maintaining biodiversity in the face of climate crises. To accomplish these goals, we have selected a set of three emergent model systems that permit us to integrate empirical and theoretical evidence to understand how climate change will affect symbiotic systems from the molecular to phenotypic levels, across ecological and evolutionary timeframes, and from laboratory to their natural environments.