Just got this from Amy Pruden, via Paula Olseiwski. Seems like a potential opportunity to get some funding for the microbiology of the built environment from NSF. The “Concept” of the program is described below: The Science and Technology Centers: Integrative Partnerships – Concept The Science and Technology Centers (STC): Integrative Partnerships program supports innovative …
Almost exactly a year ago we finally wrapped up our undergraduate project focusing on sequencing and assembling reference genomes from the built environment. This project aimed to take undergrads through every step from starting with a swab to ending with a published genome announcement and data in NCBI. Over the course of the work, we …
Quick post here on a hospital water sampling study in Italy that found much higher levels of potentially pathogenic bacteria (e.g. Legionella) in aerators than in the rest of the plumbing system. Reading this gives a really good sense of how complicated it is to maintain a sufficiently sterile water distribution system for immunocompromised patients …
Just came across this review from Sharpe et al. at the University of Exeter, UK; “Modifiable factors governing indoor fungal diversity and risk of asthma”. I’ve just skimmed it so far, but it seems to be a good starting place for getting a handle on this topic. I like the emphasis on “modifiable factors”, implying …
Quick posting here for a PhD-track job opening in Eindhoven, Netherlands; “Fungal Growth on porous materials: the roles of the water supply”. The job description is below and contact information can be found on the website (no longer available). Job description Introduction Fungi form a unique group of organisms. As holds for every organism, water …
I have to admit I don’t know much about MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) or about Coursera, but the idea does sound pretty intriguing. A new one is starting this fall called “Gut Check: Exploring your Microbiome” that sounds particularly awesome. It’s hosted by Rob Knight and others in his lab, with “visiting” lectures from …
Just a quick note that the late-breaking poster deadline for the annual American Associattion for Aerosol Research (AAAR) conference is Monday, July 21st. This conference will run from October 20-24, in Orlando Florida. Here’s the description of the conference from the website: On behalf of the AAAR 33rd Annual Conference organizers, I am excited to …
The headline above is from an article that someone sent us a couple of months ago that I just got around to checking out. It refers to a paper entitled “Detection of the Urban Release of a Bacillus anthracis Simulant by Air Sampling” published in Biosecurity and Bioterrism which is a journal that I bet …
I wasn’t able to make it to the Indoor Air meeting this year but I followed the action on Twitter. Here’s a Storify of the tweets using the #microbenet hashtag which was primarily used at the Sloan-funded microbiology of the built environment session. [View the story “Indoor Air 2014 #microbenet hashtag” on Storify]
While not exactly the microbiology of the built environment, studies of the human microbiome are the next closest thing and and understanding of both will be critical to creating healthier living environments. The American Gut project is the largest, crowdfunded/citizen science human microbiome effort, with over 3,000 participants so far (including myself). In addition to …