With the closing of the fall semester, I said goodbye to the students in my AVS 254: Introduction to Animal Microbiomes class. Despite the challenges and turmoil of fall 2020, these students have been engaged, enthusiastic, and creative. After presenting lectures on the microbial communities in and on animal hosts and how they can impact health and fitness, for the final class of the semester, I wanted to close with perspectives from the broader world of science.
To that end, I compiled several videos of “science journeys”, as told by active researchers in host microbiology, with an introduction to the class/video and my own science journey. I hope to compile a new volume each year I teach the class, to gather diverse paths.
I am extremely grateful for the time, effort, and thoughtfulness of the researchers who were able to contribute during a hectic semester to volume one:
- Edna Chiang, University of Wisconsin Madison, @EdnaChiang
- Dr. Kaitlin Flynn, Benaroya Research Institute in Seattle, @microkaitlin
- Kiran Gurung, University of Groningen, @kirangurung29
- Jocelyn R. Holt, Texas A&M University, @JocelynRHolt
- Chissa Rivaldi, University of Notre Dame, @Powerofcheez
- Dr. Laura Tipton, Chaminade University of Honolulu, @lauraomics
- Dr. Benjamin Wenner, The Ohio State University, @Bynjammin
