Microbial Awards Season in Biology 350!

I have been called a Microbial Supremacist™ more than once.  I cannot deny it; in fact I enthusiastically embrace the description.  I wrote about that path here.

The fact is, microbiology can get a bad name in our "low information" culture (oh, no---"culture," ha ha).  So I have long believed that #MicrobialPR is an important part of my job.

Thus, the Fall semester of each year here at the University of Puget Sound is a special time for me, filled with Overwhelming Microbial Goodness (#OMG™) to share with my intrepid and hard working micronauts taking Biology 350 here in Tacoma.

Each year, with the help of science artist Kaitlin Reiss, I create a "logo" for my microbiology course.  Here is the image for this year, with a Snoop Dogg vibe, I cheerfully admit.

I get my micronauts buttons and T-shirts with the design.  I think they like it, and it bonds us together into a cooperative and convivial quorum.

Who knows if I can change lives?  I do know that I can change the way my students view the world, using "microbial-colored glasses." 

I also believe that art can intersect with science, often in ways that enhance learning.  This semester, I had my Biology 350 micronauts try it two different ways, with (hopefully) some success.

First, the Vexed Muddler and I cooked up a #MicrobialArt competition.  The goal was to have students come up with microbially themed artwork.  Here is what Peggy wrote in her instructions to my micronauts:

Microbial comic contest! 

Make it funny, action-packed, educational, or full of drama - you're in charge. Bacteria with bulging biceps, dewy-eyed anime fungi, and stick-figure phages are equally welcome. The three comics that impress me the most will be awarded awesome prizes, and there's a bonus for all participants, so get doodling!

Everything in life has rules:

1. Your comic can have any number of panels, but it must be legible and fit on one side of a single sheet of 8.5"X11" paper. Points docked for going over!

2. Your comic will NOT be judged on artistic merit, but if I can't tell what anything is, it will be hard to appreciate, so try to make it as clear as you can!

3. Must have something to do with microbiology (duh). 

4. Must be original content - I know all the best microbial comics on the internet, so make sure yours is original!

5. Digital entries are accepted, but the print size of the image must be within the size limit. 

There were a number of entrants, and Peggy selected her favorites, also giving some words of praise and feedback to go along with some awesome Vexed Muddler #MicrobialSwag.

Anne won Third Place with her submission of a pop-art way to view horizontal gene transfer.

Here is Ann accepting her award of a sweet "microbial juvenile delinquents" pencil case.

Juniper's submission won Second Prize and depicts some of the "recycling" aspects of Type VI secretion system "warfare."

And Juniper seems quite happy with her #TardigradeToteBag.

Finally, Josh's art won the coveted First Prize, showing unfair and inaccurate assumptions we make about the microbial world versus our own macroscopic world.

Josh proudly holds the Vexed Muddler designed "Microbial Creation" coffee mug.

That was a heck of a #MicrobialMorning, but there was more to come.  That's right:  it was then time for the #LuxAcademyAwards! Earlier this semester, I had students create "microbial art" by "painting" with luminous bacteria (Photobacterium leignothi) on Petri dishes.  I then wanted folks across the Internet to vote on their favorites, and distribute yet more #MicrobialSwag to lucky #MicrobialArtists!

The most challenging (and frustrating) part was finding a way to tabulate votes!  But I did it!  So here are the results---I adore the #MicrobialCreativity!

I found "glowstick" lollipops to set the mood in class as we began our awards ceremony.

Carly created our #LuxArt2016 7th Place winner!  "Who Runs the World," indeed.  Of course the answer is "microbes"!

Here is a video of Carly receiving her #MicrobialSwag:

Erin created our #LuxArt2016 6th Place winner!  It kind of has a Van Gogh vibe that appeals to me.

Here is a video of Erin receiving her #MicrobialSwag::

Jesse created our #LuxArt2016 5th Place winner!  It was pretty meta to have a painting of a bioluminescent organism using bioluminescent organisms, right?

Here is a video of Jesse receiving her very appropriate (see the blinking plush toy?)  #MicrobialSwag:

Molly created our #LuxArt2016 4th Place winner.  Quite intricate!

Here is a video of Molly receiving her #MicrobialSwag:

Anne created our #LuxArt2016 3rd Place winner.  It's very appropriate to our host institution, the University of Puget Sound, as you can see.

Here is a video of Anne receiving her #MicrobialSwag: a hungry mascot:

Mara was our #LuxArt2016 2nd Place winner!  From my point of view, you cannot go wrong with a tardigrade theme.  A lot of voters agreed.

Here is a video of Mara receiving her #MicrobialSwag:  a tiny tardigrade toy, and a plush STD.  Hmmm.

Finally, Juniper is our #LuxArt2016 1st Place winner!  The intricate nature and care with which she drew Daphnia and Volvox impressed many voters.

Here is a video of Juniper receiving her #MicrobialSwag, which is a Vexed Muddler #MicrobialPillow!

I am sad to report that there was no tres coolio  #MicrobialAfterparty with many celebrities and the media snapping photos.  

Instead, it was time to get back to discussing how microbial ecology relates to the human microbiota!

I really enjoy the intersection between microbiology and art, and I like to think my micronauts do as well.  I find that students deeply think about the topics they depict artistically, or the medium (ha!) that they are using.

I hope you enjoyed the efforts of my micronauts, as well!  

Yes, I enjoy teaching #MicrobialSupremacy!  And I think that Peggy Muddles captured the "real" me with this #MicrobialPortrait.

The #LuxArt2016 Competition....

Each year, I like to have students try to explore their creativity by "painting" with luminous bacteria on Petri dishes.  My brave micronauts in Biology 350 here at the University of Puget Sound did so earlier this semester.  I wanted to have a "poll" allowing people from all over the internet to "vote" on their favorites.  I already have great prizes for the lucky microbial artists.

Sadly, I am having a heck of a time.  Most cheap or free approaches to creating such polls only allow a person to vote between a few choices; we have eighteen!  So I tried to set up a "voting system" via Twitter, and it is not without a whole other set of problems (go to Twitter, and search for #LuxArt2016 and see what kind of luck you have!).  For the Twitter poll, I was hoping that "likes" would give me some insights.

But I do want the #LuxArt competition to work.  So....

I thought I would present the artwork here, each with an entry number. If you feel like it, please choose your favorites and tell me their numbers in the comments?  Perhaps let me know your first choice?  Or e-mail me or tweet at me (@markowenmartin)? 

That way, along with the Twitter poll, I can have some idea of who has earned the "most" votes...and come up with some microbial winners!

Here goes.

Entry #1

Entry #2

Entry #3

Entry #4

Entry #5

Entry #6

Entry #7

Entry #8

Entry #9

Entry #10

Entry #11

Entry #12

Entry #13

Entry #14

Entry #15

Entry #16

Entry #17

Entry #18

Thank you for your input!

Happy Microbial Hallowe'en

It's kind of a challenging semester for me here at the University of Puget Sound, I'm afraid.  I am teaching my beloved microbiology (Biology 350), of course, as well as my freshman writing seminar that focuses on symbioses and parasitism (SSI1-165).

So I am busier than...well, a microbe trying to enter exponential phase, or a parasite trying to manipulate its host.

In addition, I have been encouraged to apply for promotion to full professor (I earned tenure at the University of Puget Sound in 2011).  This kind of process really does cause me internal strife, though it makes little sense to those outside of academia.  My late mother was psychologically Amish, and I was raised to believe the very worst thing you could do is "toot your own horn."  Everyone suffers from "imposter syndrome," I know.  But it's not fun. 

So promotion files are upsetting to me.  I'm happy to have my job, and if I end up being the world's oldest associate professor, I suppose that is fine...just so long as I get to teach, do a little research, and spend time with my students.

Anyway, Hallowe'en has long been my favorite holiday, and I surely do insert it into my classes!

I think that using luminous bacteria (Photobacterium leignothi) to "paint" Hallowe'en themed "Petri Art" is a great thing.  My first year research student Emily did a great job, as you can see.

 

It is also fun to play a bit with with E. coli strains that express green fluorescence protein as you can see here (with mad props to Emily and Sara).

 

 


And let's not forget red fluorescence protein!

 

 


But Hallowe'en isn't Hallowe'en without a masquerade.  Am I right?

Here is a nice video overview of my #Bio350 micronauts dressing for #MicrobialHalloween!

Not to be outdone, here is my own microbially themed mask (designed by my lovely and brilliant bride Dr. Jennifer J. Quinn).

Here is my Fall 2016 #Bio350 class of micronauts, all dressed for a #MicrobialHallowe'en!

Yes, there usually is a student who "dresses like Doc" for Hallowe'en.  So far, they have been kind about it.

Let's not leave out my SSI1-165 freshman writing seminar students. Several of them dressed for class on Hallowe'en, as you can see here.  I'm told that the images are, in order: a parasitized praying mantis, a bat with a wingless parasitic fly on its head, a parasitic spider, and a parasitized shark.

 

 

And the best part?  In my freshman course, we watched a "parasitically relevant" episode of an old "X-Files" episode, titled "Ice."  In it, alien parasites battled one another inside human hosts.  Just like can happen here on Earth!

I hope that all of you had a wonderful Hallowe'en, composed of mischief and mystery in equal measure...with just a dash of microbiology!

Here is something that the composer Reber Clark put together for me based on some VERY interesting phenomena involving luminous bacteria in liquid culture in Petri dishes.  Thanks to Ruth Isenberg for the time-lapse work during the summer.  Very, very Hallowe'en appropriate, don't you think?

Happy Hallowe'en!

Students Impressions of "Microbiology" on the First Day of Class

I'm very fortunate to be able to teach microbiology every Fall semester at the University of Puget Sound---eleven years now!  I mostly have juniors and seniors, and there is only one microbiology course available.  Mine.

These are some serious microbiological shoes to fill.

I do my best to present to students the wild ferment (sorry about that) of near daily changes in the microbial sciences.  It's such fun to tell students, pretty much every day, something new and exciting that was not known five or ten years ago.

Anyway, I thought you might enjoy hearing what my budding micronauts think of the term "microbiology" on the first day of class.  

Truly, I am fortunate to have students like these, and more fortunate still to have such a wonderful job.  I'll remind myself of this when I am locked into Grading Jail later in the semester.

I am lucky.

A Long Hiatus....

I haven't written a blog post since January of 2016.  It has been a difficult period for me, personally.  Yes, many people deal with far worse; I am simply explaining my absence from posting.

I will be posting again with regularity, but I had best explain recent events.

My mother, Wanda Jean Martin, passed away in 2012.  Her death was after a brave and valiant fourteen year fight with Stage IV ovarian cancer, and she stayed pretty sharp mentally until the very end.  That doesn't mean it was a wonderful experience for her, or for her family, of course.

It left a hole in our lives, of course, and nowhere more than in the heart of my father.

My father, Jack S. Martin, Sr., passed away at the end of March of 2016.  Dad had spent his entire adult life looking after my mother. His hard work, sharp wit, grim humor, and perseverance were proven tools that helped my father through a tough life; but they couldn't do much against my mother's cancer.  It was the first challenge he had ever faced he could not master.

After my mother passed away, my father's health declined rapidly. Even so, he was very, very strong.  The last two years, it broke my heart to see how his mind slowly but surely unraveled as his body began to fail him.  I am fairly certain my father had several strokes along the way, or oxygen deprivation.  He had good days and bad days.  I learned to put aside the latter, and savor the former.  I didn't even mind him repeating the same stories again and again; they gave him happiness and made me smile. 

There were bad times, too, during my father's slow decline. All we could do, as a family, is focus on the lucid and positive moments my father had.  And celebrate his many positive impacts on our lives.  Certainly, we could have focused on the darker end of things, the anger, the hallucinations, the dementia, and the harsh words. But I chose not to do so.  I learned a lot during the experience; mostly about the nature of love and family.  And memories.

Here is my father's obituary.  So strange to see such a rich and colorful life as mere words on a page.

The last month before my father died, I wrote short essays about the role he had played in my life:  lessons, humor, experiences.  I think I knew somehow his time had come.  I put together a slide show of the little essays here.

My father was an unusual and unforgettable man.  One thing he insisted he wanted at his funeral was bagpipe music.  It didn't happen, and that bothered me more than a little.  With my uncle and brother's help, I put together a slide show, in honor of my father's birthday in July.  My friend KT Scott provided the bagpipe music. Here it is.

Neither my father nor myself believe in coincidences.  So the fact that he was buried next to my mother, on what would have been her birthday, surprises me not at all.

Please read a little about my father.  And honor him with a Dos Equis, if you would.  

It is absolutely true that my father told me he had never felt like a man until his own father passed away.  Since my father was the toughest man I had ever met, this surprised me no end.  

But I know what he meant, now.

I have always adored Dylan Thomas' poetry.  Obviously, "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night" is appropriate.  Here is a video of Thomas reading it.

Furthermore, another poem of Thomas', "And Death Shall Have No Dominion," moves me deeply as I think of my father. 

Both poems certainly apply to how I felt about my father, at the end of things.

Many thanks to my wife Jennifer Quinn for her support during this difficult time.  Also for my brother, Jack S. Martin, Jr.  And finally, my father's "little brother" and my uncle, George F.  Martin, for patiently and kindly keeping us all in one piece during this awful journey.

Hug your family, and call your loved ones.  Do it today.  Right now.