At microBEnet one of our goals has been to experiment with various forms of social media and to see if / how it can be useful in general to the field of “microbiology of the Built Environment.” For those interested in such things, as well as for anyone interesting in the interface between social media …
After some off-line dialogue related to my “Should you lick your baby’s dropped pacifier?” blog post, I have decided to post a separate comment regarding the hygiene hypothesis, mentioned in the introduction, and the plasticizer hypothesis, emphasized by some off-line correspondents. What is clear is that in the modern, human-occupied indoor environment, there are microbes …
We have a guest post from Keith Seifert today. Keith is PI of the “Indoor Mycota Barcode of Life” (IM-BOL) project. See his post below: Walking in the footsteps of van Leeuwenhoek (part 1) “And therewithall, whenever I found out anything remarkable, I have thought it my duty to put down my discovery on paper, …
Members of The American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) do a lot of investigations of “problem buildings.” Mold has been a hot topic for more than a decade due to numerous lawsuits brought by occupants, tenants, and others against building owners. Large settlements have occurred, and famous plaintiffs and lawyers (Erin Brokavich) have been involved. Whole …
(From Linsey Marr at Virginia Tech) We are seeking a post-doctoral researcher for a project to develop a nanotechnology-based sensor for airborne viruses. The ideal candidate will have experience with experimental techniques related to the generation, sampling, and detection of specific microorganisms in bioaerosols. The post-doctoral researcher will be co-advised by Dr. Linsey Marr and …
A reminder from the conference organizers that the meeting in May is fast approaching and that everyone should have their travel arrangements in order. The preliminary program is online and more information will be coming soon. (This conference is by invitation only)
The University of Chicago has just opened a massive new hospital on the university campus. Jack Gilbert is PI on a study of the evolution of the hospital microbiome funded by the Sloan Foundation. The evolution of the microbiomes in a set of hospital rooms is being studied continuously beginning before the hospital accepted the …
Lee Ann Kahlor and her team at the University of Texas Interviewed nearly fourscore U.S. researchers in academia, government, defense and private industry to try to understand researchers’ perceptions of the challenges and opportunities for science communication to a wider audience (lay and decision makers). Here is what Dr. Kahlor said about the work: “Two …
(posting this e-mail from USGBC) New Opportunities at USGBC:Thought Leadership and Research on Building Materials Understanding, communicating and analyzing building materials is a critical frontier for the green building industry. Google has recently provided a generous grant to USGBC to, in part, advance thought leadership and applied research in this area. As part of this project, USGBC …
We had a site visit from Paula Olsiewski last week. Paula is the Program Officer for the Sloan Foundation program in microbiology of the built environment (and thus our Program Officer for microBEnet). The visit went very well (I think). In addition to discussing many things associated with microBEnet past, present and future we also …