Today, Dr. Michael Schmidt of This Week in Microbiology and Professor of Microbiology and Immunology of the Medical University of South Carolina, joins the Quality Quorum (at a special “live audience” podcast session at the American Society for Microbiology in Atlanta, Georgia) to discuss his fascinating work with copper as an antimicrobial agent.
Today, Dr. Kimberly Walker, Assistant Professor and Director of Medical Diagnostics at the University of Delaware, joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss her interesting path in microbiology, from pathogenic bacteria, to predatory microbes, to Congress, to science policy, and then to educating others about medical diagnostics.
Today, Dr. Roland Hatzenpichler of Montana State University joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss the central importance of archaea to our knowledge of the microbial world, ranging from history of their study, misconceptions about archaea, the microbiological bounty of Yellowstone National Park, and how ancient archaea may be the Asgard like ancestors of us all.
Today, Jessica Buchser, graduate of West Chester University and entering PhD student at Pennsylvania State University joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss being an older student, how social media and podcasts fueled her interest in the microbial sciences, and her future path as a microbiologist!
Today, Dr. Esther Angert of Cornell University joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss the role her research collaborators have had studying truly gigantic bacteria, and the adaptations these enormous microbes must make to their size!
Today, Dr. Jo Handelsman of the University of Wisconsin Madison and Director of the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss the work she and her research collaborators do on interactive microbial communities, using THOR (the hitchhikers of the rhizosphere) as a model system. She will also remind us how vital soil is to our lives.
Today, Dr. Geo Santiago-Martinez, Assistant Professor of Molecular and Cell Biology and Microbiology at the University of Connecticut joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss the mysteries of the archaeal world, and how one group of these organisms produce methane gas as a byproduct of metabolism. These methanogens are thus involved in climate, symbioses, biotechnology, and even astrobiology!
Today, Dr. Rachel Dutton, Science Resident at the Astera Institute in Berkeley, California, joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss the complex (and tasty) microbial communities responsible for cheese as a model system for microbial interactions, as well as her interesting path through science.
Today, Sarah Bordenstein, Associate Research Professor of Biology & Entomology at Penn State University and Director of Discover the Microbes Within! The Wolbachia Project joins the #QualityQuorum to tell us about the most successful pandemic on the planet, the fascinating endosymbiotic bacterium Wolbachia, and how she has used this fascinating system to teach young people about molecular biology, bioinformatics, and evolution.
Today, Dr. Jeri Barak of the University of Wisconsin Madison joins the #QualityQuorum to chat about how various microbes (some of which can cause disease in humans) can gain access to plants, sometimes via group behavior. With media coverage of Salmonella contamination in lettuce, Dr. Barak’s work is especially timely! She will also discuss what it is like to be a plant pathologist!
