Research

Microbiome Center to host networking event Oct. 2

Faculty, staff, postdocs and students discuss microbiome research during a networking event in October 2017. A similar event is planned for Oct. 2 this year. Credit: Penn State / 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 at 4:30 p.m. on Oct. 2 in the Huck Life Sciences Building, third floor bridge. The goal of the event is to facilitate collaborations and new ideas. Prizes will be given for the best poster and lightning talks.

In addition to the annual networking event, the Microbiome Center hosts weekly meetings, many of which are webcasted to members at other Penn State campuses and are available on the Microbiome Center YouTube site. The center sends news to 357 faculty, staff and students and had 82 active members as of spring 2018, which included representatives from 11 colleges and institutes and 11 campuses, according to Carolee Bull, director of the Microbiome Center.

"In the 2 1/2 years since the inception of the Microbiome Center, we have grown to one of the most active centers across campuses," said Bull, who is head of the Department of Plant Pathology and Environmental Microbiology in the College of Agricultural Sciences. "Members of the center are publishing in the field, winning awards, writing transdisciplinary grants, and attracting cohorts of the best students. The networking event is one of the highlights of the year and fuels collaboration."

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.

Members also come from the Arts and Design Research Incubator and from other Penn State campuses. In addition, 51 campus faculty, staff and administrators follow the weekly newsletter. Members benefit from opportunities such as exchange visits to campuses for lectures, weekly meetings and workshops. There also are volunteer opportunities for postdocs and graduate students that often result in funding for training.

The Microbiome Center will have a new online look and additional resources for members, sponsors and the public in October when the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences launches its new website.   

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 June 6, 2021

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