Research

Networking event promotes microbiome research collaborations

Faculty, staff, postdocs and students discuss microbiome research during a networking event in October 2016. A similar event is planned for Oct. 3 this year. Credit: Penn StateCreative Commons

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Those interested in learning about or participating in microbiome research at Penn State are invited to attend a networking event sponsored by the University's Microbiome Research Center.

The gathering will take place from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Oct. 3 in the Huck Life Sciences Building, third floor bridge. Center members will present 18 posters and eight lightning presentations about the interdisciplinary research conducted at the center, according to Carolee Bull, interim director of the Microbiome Center.

"We encourage anyone who has an interest in microbiomes to attend, as we are always interested in new ideas," said Bull, who is head of the Department of Plant Pathology and Environmental Microbiology in the College of Agricultural Sciences. "The center boasts researchers from a broad range of disciplines, literally from A to Z, from the arts to zoology and everything in-between. We are a community looking at communities and appreciate participation and perspectives from everyone."

Bull explained that microbiomes are communities of microorganisms that live on or in people, plants, soil, oceans and the atmosphere. The goal of the center is to support transformative, interdisciplinary research in microbiomes by fostering long-term working relationships, while simultaneously providing infrastructure and resources needed for increasing the diversity and breadth of microbiome research and educational opportunities at Penn State.

Units involved in the center include the colleges of Agricultural Sciences, Communications, Earth and Mineral Sciences, Engineering, Health and Human Development, Information Sciences and Technology, and Medicine, and the Eberly College of Science. Also participating are the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, the Social Science Research Institute, the Institutes of Energy and the Environment, and the Institute for CyberScience. Active members also come from the Arts Design Research Incubator and from other Penn State campuses.

To learn more, visit https://www.huck.psu.edu/content/research/microbiome-center. A complete listing of Microbiome Center happenings, including weekly meetings and special events, is available at https://www.huck.psu.edu/content/research/microbiome-center/events.

Last Updated October 4, 2017

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