This 1-credit graduate seminar course examines various topics in the ecology and evolution of microbes, with an emphasis on prokaryotes (Eubacteria, Archaea) and single-celled eukaryotes (yeasts, protists). The goal of this course is for the students to develop a quantitative understanding of microbial community ecology, focusing on the mechanisms of community assembly, microbial biogeography, and the role of evolution in structuring microbial communities and endowing them with function. Microbial communities have many unique properties and differ in fundamental ways from those formed by macroscopic organisms. The course will examine these unique properties through readings of the primary literature, including both classic papers and cutting-edge advances in the field. The course will be quantitative in nature, and will explicitly discuss how mathematical models can allow us to understand ecological and evolutionary processes in microbial communities.