CLEE Overview About the Center The Center for Life in Extreme Environments, or CLEE, is an internationally recognized, multidisciplinary group who initially self-organized in 2000 before becoming a formal center in 2011. History The group received several major external infrastructure grants and private funding to build CLEE. In 2011, these investments created a state-of-the-art research facility, which now houses 14 faculty (2 in Chemistry, 1 in Physics, 11 in Biology) and ~60 additional personnel/year. Vision: To be the nation’s leader in research on life in extreme environments Mission Statement: The mission the Center for Life in Environmental Extremes (CLEE) is to foster transformative, interdisciplinary research that advances our understanding of the boundaries, extremes and potential for survival in planetary extremes. Research Goals: Uncover the biological and chemical mechanisms for survival in extreme environments, from microbes to ecosystems Investigate scenarios for the origins of life to better understand how life emerged on earth, and how it might emerge elsewhere in the Universe Integrate knowledge of life in current extremes with projections of future extremes to prepare life for survival in planetary extremes, from Earth to beyond Apply “nature’s solutions” to human health issues related to extreme conditions