Microbes are the foundation of all ecosystems, where they drive both evolution and ecology. Microbial communities are critical for terrestrial, aquatic, and marine ecosystem functioning with myriad impacts on such diverse processes as nutrient cycling, primary production, and soil formation. Similarly, in host-associated systems, microbes aid in host nutrient and waste processing, pathogen resistance, and immune regulation. Fully understanding the functioning of these abundant and diverse communities requires theory that scales within and between systems. Such theory will be particularly important for predicting how microbial communities behave in the future. Anthropogenic impacts have already significantly shaped microbial communities from altering their environments to creating entirely new habitats (e.g., the built environment). The rapid rate of evolution in microbial populations and the potential for fewer dispersal barriers in particular present opportunities for microbial responses to differ significantly from those of plants and animals. Whether these features are equally important under both press and pulse disturbances or with impacts of varying scales is unknown though. While research into microbial responses to specific drivers is becoming increasingly common, to date, few efforts have been made to consider these patterns in tandem. In this organized session, we will highlight recent efforts to study microbial evolutionary and ecological responses to a variety of human induced changes. Methodological and theoretical overlap between talks will present opportunities to synthesize and identify relevant pre-existing theory as well as identify areas requiring additional future research or new theory. Systems covered will include human- and animal- associated communities as well as aquatic bacteria, soil phage, and office buildings.