Guest post from @northenlab on “Exometabolite niche partitioning”

Guest post from Trent Northen of LBNL. I wrote to Trent recently when I had seen a paper of his that I found fascinating: Exometabolite niche partitioning among sympatric soil bacteria.  So I asked if he would be willing to write a guest post about it. And so – he did.  It seems like the issues …

Mining the urban sewage for safe water indicators

Hello Microbe.net readers, I am Fangqiong. I recently received the Microbiology of the Built Environment Postdoc Fellowship from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. I will be studying a kind of built environment microbiome, the microbiome in the urban water cycle, in Professor Eric Alm’s lab at MIT. I am very grateful to the Sloan Foundation …

Great long read from WisconsinWatch.org on water radium levels increasing as wells are dug deeper 

As communities grow and pump more groundwater, radium from deep bedrock is contaminating dozens of water systems. The city of Waukesha wants to tap into Lake Michigan to solve its radium problem. Just was pointed to this piece by Deborah Blum: As wells go deeper, radium levels rise in state tap water | WisconsinWatch.org.  It …

New papers on microbiology of the built environment, March 7, 2016

Microbes in the house Seasonal Dynamics of the Airborne Bacterial Community and Selected Viruses in a Children’s Daycare Center – Aaron J. Prussin II – PLOS ONE (OA) We have investigated the microbial community of the air in a daycare center, including seasonal dynamics in the bacterial community and the presence of specific viral pathogens. …

GSC18: Genomic Metadata Standards Consortium annual meeting, June 12-15th, 2016, Crete

The 18th Genomic Standards Consortium meeting 12-15 June 2016. Crete Hellenic Center for Marine Research GSC 18 will include 8 sessions. Each session will have a working group which would meet during the workshop and the chair of each session will summarise the conclusions of the working group during the workshop. Workshop participants are encouraged …

Deceptive lead testing, water utilities and the EPA vs. citizen science 

Just got done reading this article from the Guardian and it is distressing Guardian analysis reveals millions of customers were asked to used testing method condemned by the EPA which may flush out detectable lead content Source: Water utilities serving American cities use tests that downplay contamination | Environment | The Guardian by Jessica Glenza and Oliver Milman. The …

21st Annual International Meeting on Microbial Genomes at Lake Arrowhead 9/18-22

The meeting page for the 21st Annual International Meeting on Microbial Genomes at Lake Arrowhead is now up.  This has been one of my favorite meetings for many many years (full disclosure – I am now a co-organizer and have been for the last few meetings).  Note – the meeting is NOT just about genomes – it …

2016 AIA South Atlantic Region Conference Call for Presentation

Just got this email and thought it might be of interest to some: AIA South Atlantic Region seeks innovative speakers and facilitators for presentations to be offered during the 2016 Regional Conference in Wilmington, NC, September 29 — October 1. This conference will provide the highest amount of Continuing Education Units for architect members in …