The hot new 10 questions concerning the microbiomes of buildings will surprise you

Ok so I made this into Clickbait.  But you really should read this and that has nothing to do with me being a co-author. The paper is “Ten questions concerning the microbiomes of buildings” and it is in “Building and Environment” a journal that I am becoming more and more appreciative of every month.  The …

EPA Webinar and Discussion: What Have We Learned about the Microbiomes of Indoor Environments?

Paula Olsiewski just pointed us to this upcoming webinar and discussion hosted by Brent Stephens.   This presumably relates closely to his article on the same topic which is a must-read. What Have We Learned about the Microbiomes of Indoor Environments? Presented by: Brent Stephens, PhD, Associate Professor of Architectural   Engineering,   Illinois Institute of Technology Date and …

7th ICME w/ Publishing dos and don’ts for Microbial Ecologists session

I don’t know anything about this course but certainly seems of interest. ————– Dear Colleagues, this is a reminder for the upcoming deadline for application to the 7th edition of the International Course in Microbial Ecology (7ICME – http://microbeco.org/7ICME.html). The event, entitled “Publishing dos and don’ts for Microbial Ecologists”, will take place from 24 to 27 …

FUNDING: US-UK Microbiome Partnership Development Awards: Open Call for Submissions

Got pointed to this by a few people and it seems worth checking out http://blogs.fco.gov.uk/patriciagruver/2016/08/31/funding-microbiome-partnership-development-awards-open-call-for-submissions/ Announcement copied below: FUNDING: Microbiome Partnership Development Awards: Open Call for Submissions The UK-US Partnership Development Awards Programme aims to develop new relationships in the field of microbiome research, leading to long‐term research collaborations. Applications for the current round are …

Built environment and more at MSA2016

The Mycological Society of America’s annual meeting (program) was held at UC Berkeley this year with the theme of “Sequencing the Environment.” The Sloan Foundation sponsored three symposia to 1) highlight ongoing studies of fungi in the built environment and 2) further understanding of the fundamental processes that structure fungal communities, including those of indoor environments. …

New papers on Microbiology of the Built Environment, September 3, 2016

Microbes in the hospital Extreme Dysbiosis of the Microbiome in Critical Illness — Daniel McDonald — mSphere (OA) (…)  A trial with prospective monitoring of the intensive care unit (ICU) patient microbiome using culture-independent techniques to confirm and characterize this dysbiosis is thus urgently needed. Characterizing ICU patient microbiome changes may provide first steps toward the …

Very very big microbe news: FDA bans antibacterial soaps w/ triclosan & other chems

Well, this is enormously big news: The FDA today banned the use of triclosan as an ingredient in antibacterial soaps, saying that such cleaners were no better than regular soap. Source: FDA bans antibacterial soaps containing triclosan Lots and lots and lots of other stories about this. See for example FDA announcement Washington Post NPR …

Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Workshop on Viruses to be Held in Singapore, January 2017

(posted on behalf of Jordan Peccia) Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Workshop on Viruses to be Held in Singapore, January 2017 The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation has approved a grant to host a two-day workshop in Singapore on the topic of infectious viral disease in the built environment. Objectives of the workshop include identifying the key …