1887

Microbes Should Be Central to Ecological Education and Outreach

    Authors: Albert Barberán1,*, Tobin J. Hammer2, Anne A. Madden1,3, Noah Fierer1,2
    VIEW AFFILIATIONS HIDE AFFILIATIONS
    Affiliations: 1: Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309; 2: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309; 3: Department of Applied Ecology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695
    AUTHOR AND ARTICLE INFORMATION AUTHOR AND ARTICLE INFORMATION
    • Published 01 March 2016
    • ©2016 Author(s). Published by the American Society for Microbiology.

    • [open-access] This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode), which grants the public the nonexclusive right to copy, distribute, or display the published work.
    • *Corresponding author. Mailing address: University of Colorado, CIRES, UCB 216, Boulder, CO 80309-0216. Phone: 303-492-5615. E-mail: [email protected].
    Source: J. Microbiol. Biol. Educ. March 2016 vol. 17 no. 1 23-28. doi:10.1128/jmbe.v17i1.984
MyBook is a cheap paperback edition of the original book and will be sold at uniform, low price.
  • HTML
    67.39 Kb
  • XML
  • PDF
    429.25 Kb

    Abstract:

    Our planet is changing rapidly, and responding to the ensuing environmental challenges will require an informed citizenry that can understand the inherent complexity of ecological systems. However, microorganisms are usually neglected in the narratives that we use to understand nature. Here, we advocate for the inclusion of microbial ecology across education levels and delineate the often neglected benefits of incorporating microbes into ecology curricula. We provide examples across education levels, from secondary school (by considering one’s self as a microbial ecosystem), to higher education (by incorporating our knowledge of the global ecological role and medical application of microbes), to the general public (by engagement through citizen-science projects). The greater inclusion of microbes in ecological education and outreach will not only help us appreciate the natural world we are part of, but will ultimately aid in building a citizenry better prepared to make informed decisions on health and environmental policies.

References & Citations

1. Ackert L 2012 Sergei Vinogradskii and the cycle of life: from the thermodynamics of life to ecological microbiology 1850 1950 Springer Dordrecht, The Netherlands
2. Afshinnekoo E, et al 2015 Geospatial resolution of human and bacterial diversity with city-scale metagenomics Cell Syst 1 1 15
3. Barberán A, Casamayor EO, Fierer N 2014 The microbial contribution to macroecology Front Microbiol 5 May 1 8 10.3389/fmicb.2014.00203 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2014.00203
4. Barberán A, et al 2015 Continental-scale distributions of dust-associated bacteria and fungi Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 112 18 5756 5761 10.1073/pnas.1420815112 25902536 4426398 http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1420815112
5. Bodelier PLE 2011 Toward understanding, managing, and protecting microbial ecosystems Front Microbiol 2 80 10.3389/fmicb.2011.00080 21747797 3128941 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2011.00080
6. Bonney R, et al 2009 Citizen science: a developing tool for expanding science knowledge and scientific literacy Bioscience 59 11 977 984 10.1525/bio.2009.59.11.9 http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/bio.2009.59.11.9
7. Bowser A, et al 2013 Using gamification to inspire new citizen science volunteers ACM Digital Library
8. Brock TD 1966 Principles of microbial ecology Prentice-Hall New Jersey, USA
9. Burleson KM, Martinez-Vaz BM 2011 Microbes in mascara: hypothesis-driven research in a nonmajor biology lab J Microbiol Biol Educ 12 2 166 175 10.1128/jmbe.v12i2.320 23653761 3577261 http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/jmbe.v12i2.320
10. Byrne J 2011 Models of micro- organisms: children’s knowledge and understanding of micro- organisms from 7 to 14 years old Int J Sci Educ 33 14 1927 1961 10.1080/09500693.2010.536999 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2010.536999
11. Canfield DE 2005 The early history of atmospheric oxygen: homage to Robert M Garrels Annu Rev Earth Planet Sci 33 1 1 36 10.1146/annurev.earth.33.092203.122711 http://dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurev.earth.33.092203.122711
12. Cohn JP 2008 Citizen science: can volunteers do real research? Bioscience 58 3 192 197 10.1641/B580303 http://dx.doi.org/10.1641/B580303
13. Corner TR 1991 Ecology in a jar Sci Teach 59 3 32 36
14. Dickinson JL, Zuckerberg B, Bonter DN 2010 Citizen science as an ecological research tool: challenges and benefits Annu Rev Ecol Evol Syst 41 1 149 172 10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-102209-144636 http://dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-102209-144636
15. Doremus H 2000 The rhetoric and reality of nature protection: toward a new discourse Wash Lee Law Rev 57 1 11 73
16. Dreyfus A, Jungwirth E 1989 The pupil and the living cell: a taxonomy of dysfunctional ideas about an abstract idea J Biol Educ 23 1 49 55 10.1080/00219266.1989.9655024 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00219266.1989.9655024
17. Dunn R, Fierer N, Henley J, Leff J, Menninger H 2013 Home life: factors structuring the bacterial diversity found within and between homes PLoS One 8 5 e64133 10.1371/journal.pone.0064133 23717552 3661444 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0064133
18. Emmert EAB 2013 Biosafety guidelines for handling microorganisms in the teaching laboratory: development and rationale J Microbiol Biol Educ 14 1 78 83 10.1128/jmbe.v14i1.531 23858356 3706168 http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/jmbe.v14i1.531
19. Ergazaki M, Saltapida K, Zogza V 2009 From young children’s ideas about germs to ideas shaping a learning environment Res Sci Educ 40 5 699 715 10.1007/s11165-009-9140-2 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11165-009-9140-2
20. Falkowski PG, Fenchel T, Delong EF 2008 The microbial engines that drive earth’s biogeochemical cycles Science 320 5879 1034 1039 10.1126/science.1153213 18497287 http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1153213
21. Field H, Powell P 2001 Public understanding of science versus public understanding of research Public Underst Sci 10 4 421 426 10.1088/0963-6625/10/4/305 http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0963-6625/10/4/305
22. Fierer N, et al 2012 From animalcules to an ecosystem: application of ecological concepts to the human microbiome Annu Rev Ecol Evol Syst 43 1 137 155 10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-110411-160307 http://dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-110411-160307
23. Fisher MC, et al 2012 Emerging fungal threats to animal, plant and ecosystem health Nature 484 7393 186 194 10.1038/nature10947 22498624 3821985 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature10947
24. Gest H 2004 The discovery of microorganisms by Robert Hooke and Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, fellows of the royal society Notes Rec R Soc 58 2 187 201 10.1098/rsnr.2004.0055 15209075 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsnr.2004.0055
25. Gould SJ 1994 The evolution of life on the earth Sci Am 271 4 84 91 10.1038/scientificamerican1094-84 7939569 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/scientificamerican1094-84
26. Hogan K 2000 Assessing students’ systems reasoning in ecology J Biol Educ 35 1 22 28 10.1080/00219266.2000.9655731 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00219266.2000.9655731
27. Jones MG, Rua MJ 2006 Conceptions of germs: expert to novice understandings of microorganisms Elec J Sci Educ 10 3
28. Jordan R, Singer F, Vaughan J, Berkowitz A 2009 What should every citizen know about ecology? Front Ecol Environ 7 9 495 500 10.1890/070113 http://dx.doi.org/10.1890/070113
29. Kahan DM, Jenkins-Smith H, Braman D 2011 Cultural cognition of scientific consensus J Risk Res 14 2 147 174 10.1080/13669877.2010.511246 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13669877.2010.511246
30. Kahan DM, et al 2012 The polarizing impact of science literacy and numeracy on perceived climate change risks Nat Clim Chang 2 10 732 735 10.1038/nclimate1547 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nclimate1547
31. Komoroske LM, Hameed SO, Szoboszlai AI, Newsom AJ, Williams SL 2015 A scientist’s guide to achieving broader impacts through K-12 STEM collaboration Bioscience 65 3 313 322 10.1093/biosci/biu222 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biu222
32. Lucas AM, Linke RD, Sedgwick PP 1979 Schoolchildren’s criteria for “alive”: a content analysis approach J Psychol 103 1 103 112 10.1080/00223980.1979.9915120 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00223980.1979.9915120
33. Martin LJ, et al 2015 Evolution of the indoor biome Trends Ecol Evol 30 4 223 232 10.1016/j.tree.2015.02.001 25770744 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2015.02.001
34. McFall-Ngai M 2015 Out of sight, out of mind Environ Microbiol Rep 7 1 29 30 10.1111/1758-2229.12244 25721598 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1758-2229.12244
35. McFall-Ngai M, et al 2013 Animals in a bacterial world, a new imperative for the life sciences Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 110 9 3229 3236 10.1073/pnas.1218525110 23391737 3587249 http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1218525110
36. Michel J-B, et al 2011 Quantitative analysis of culture using millions of digitized books Science 331 6014 176 182 10.1126/science.1199644 http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1199644
37. Miller-Rushing A, Primack R, Bonney R 2012 The history of public participation in ecological research Front Ecol Environ 10 6 285 290 10.1890/110278 http://dx.doi.org/10.1890/110278
38. Mochon D, Norton MI, Ariely D 2012 Bolstering and restoring feelings of competence via the Ikea effect Int J Res Mark 29 4 363 369 10.1016/j.ijresmar.2012.05.001 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijresmar.2012.05.001
39. Muir J 1911 My first summer in the sierra and selected essays Library of America New York, USA
40. Munson BH 1994 Ecological misconceptions J Environ Educ 25 4 30 34 10.1080/00958964.1994.9941962 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00958964.1994.9941962
41. Nagy MH 1953 The representation of “germs” by children Pedagog Semin J Genet Psychol 83 2 227 240 10.1080/08856559.1953.10534089 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08856559.1953.10534089
42. O’Malley MA, Dupré J 2007 Size doesn’t matter: towards a more inclusive philosophy of biology Biol Philos 22 2 155 191 10.1007/s10539-006-9031-0 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10539-006-9031-0
43. Parks ST 2015 Microbial life in a Winogradsky column: from lab course to diverse research experience J Microbiol Biol Educ 16 1 82 84 10.1128/jmbe.v16i1.847 25949764 4416513 http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/jmbe.v16i1.847
44. Ramirez KS, et al 2014 Biogeographic patterns in below-ground diversity in New York City’s Central Park are similar to those observed globally Proc Biol Sci 281 2014 1988 10.1098/rspb.2014.1988 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2014.1988
45. Robertson CE, et al 2013 Culture-independent analysis of aerosol microbiology in a metropolitan subway system Appl Environ Microbiol 79 11 3485 3493 10.1128/AEM.00331-13 23542619 3648054 http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/AEM.00331-13
46. Schirrmeister BE, de Vos JM, Antonelli A, Bagheri HC 2013 Evolution of multicellularity coincided with increased diversification of cyanobacteria and the great oxidation event Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 110 5 1791 1796 10.1073/pnas.1209927110 23319632 3562814 http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1209927110
47. Schuur EAG, et al 2015 Climate change and the permafrost carbon feedback Nature 520 7546 171 179 10.1038/nature14338 25855454 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature14338
48. Shams L, Seitz AR 2008 Benefits of multisensory learning Trends Cogn Sci 12 11 411 417 10.1016/j.tics.2008.07.006 18805039 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2008.07.006
49. Silvertown J 2009 A new dawn for citizen science Trends Ecol Evol 24 9 467 471 10.1016/j.tree.2009.03.017 19586682 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2009.03.017
50. Singh BK, Bardgett RD, Smith P, Reay DS 2010 Microorganisms and climate change: terrestrial feedbacks and mitigation options Nat Rev Microbiol 8 11 779 790 10.1038/nrmicro2439 20948551 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nrmicro2439
51. Thompson DW 1942 On growth and form 2nd ed Cambridge University Press Cambridge, UK
52. Tobiason D 2011 A comparative review of four photographic atlases for microbiology J Microbiol Biol Educ 12 2 216 217 10.1128/jmbe.v12i2.343 http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/jmbe.v12i2.343
53. Vitousek PM, Mooney HA, Lubchenco J, Melillo JM 1997 Human domination of earth’s ecosystems Science 277 5325 494 499 10.1126/science.277.5325.494 http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.277.5325.494
54. Wals AEJ, Brody M, Dillon J, Stevenson RB 2014 Convergence between science and environmental education Science 344 6184 583 584 10.1126/science.1250515 24812386 http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1250515
55. Whitman WB, Coleman DC, Wiebe WJ 1998 Prokaryotes: the unseen majority Proc Natl Acad Sci 95 12 6578 6583 10.1073/pnas.95.12.6578 9618454 33863 http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.95.12.6578
56. Wilson EO 1984 Biophilia Harvard University Press Cambridge, MA, USA

Supplemental Material

No supplementary material available for this content.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journal/jmbe/10.1128/jmbe.v17i1.984
2016-03-01
2020-08-08

Abstract:

Our planet is changing rapidly, and responding to the ensuing environmental challenges will require an informed citizenry that can understand the inherent complexity of ecological systems. However, microorganisms are usually neglected in the narratives that we use to understand nature. Here, we advocate for the inclusion of microbial ecology across education levels and delineate the often neglected benefits of incorporating microbes into ecology curricula. We provide examples across education levels, from secondary school (by considering one’s self as a microbial ecosystem), to higher education (by incorporating our knowledge of the global ecological role and medical application of microbes), to the general public (by engagement through citizen-science projects). The greater inclusion of microbes in ecological education and outreach will not only help us appreciate the natural world we are part of, but will ultimately aid in building a citizenry better prepared to make informed decisions on health and environmental policies.

Highlighted Text: Show | Hide
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/deliver/fulltext/jmbe/17/1/jmbe-17-23.xml.a.html?itemId=/content/journal/jmbe/10.1128/jmbe.v17i1.984&mimeType=html&fmt=ahah

Author and Article Information

  • Published 01 March 2016
  • ©2016 Author(s). Published by the American Society for Microbiology.

  • [open-access] This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode), which grants the public the nonexclusive right to copy, distribute, or display the published work.
  • *Corresponding author. Mailing address: University of Colorado, CIRES, UCB 216, Boulder, CO 80309-0216. Phone: 303-492-5615. E-mail: [email protected].

Figures

Microbes Should Be Central to Ecological Education and Outreach
[com.pub2web.rdf.cci.facet.ContentItem[id=http://asm.metastore.ingenta.com/content/author/jmbe/10.1128/jmbe.v17i1.984-1,webId=/content/author/jmbe/10.1128/jmbe.v17i1.984-1,properties={foaf_givenname=Albert, foaf_name=Albert Barberán, foaf_surname=Barberán, pub_correspondenceLink=*, pub_isAffiliatedWith=[com.pub2web.rdf.cci.facet.ContentItem[id=http://asm.metastore.ingenta.com/content/affiliation/jmbe/10.1128/jmbe.v17i1.984-aff1]]}], com.pub2web.rdf.cci.facet.ContentItem[id=http://asm.metastore.ingenta.com/content/author/jmbe/10.1128/jmbe.v17i1.984-2,webId=/content/author/jmbe/10.1128/jmbe.v17i1.984-2,properties={foaf_givenname=Tobin J., foaf_name=Tobin J. Hammer, foaf_surname=Hammer, pub_isAffiliatedWith=[com.pub2web.rdf.cci.facet.ContentItem[id=http://asm.metastore.ingenta.com/content/affiliation/jmbe/10.1128/jmbe.v17i1.984-aff2]]}], com.pub2web.rdf.cci.facet.ContentItem[id=http://asm.metastore.ingenta.com/content/author/jmbe/10.1128/jmbe.v17i1.984-3,webId=/content/author/jmbe/10.1128/jmbe.v17i1.984-3,properties={foaf_givenname=Anne A., foaf_name=Anne A. Madden, foaf_surname=Madden, pub_isAffiliatedWith=[com.pub2web.rdf.cci.facet.ContentItem[id=http://asm.metastore.ingenta.com/content/affiliation/jmbe/10.1128/jmbe.v17i1.984-aff3],com.pub2web.rdf.cci.facet.ContentItem[id=http://asm.metastore.ingenta.com/content/affiliation/jmbe/10.1128/jmbe.v17i1.984-aff1]]}], com.pub2web.rdf.cci.facet.ContentItem[id=http://asm.metastore.ingenta.com/content/author/jmbe/10.1128/jmbe.v17i1.984-4,webId=/content/author/jmbe/10.1128/jmbe.v17i1.984-4,properties={foaf_givenname=Noah, foaf_name=Noah Fierer, foaf_surname=Fierer, pub_isAffiliatedWith=[com.pub2web.rdf.cci.facet.ContentItem[id=http://asm.metastore.ingenta.com/content/affiliation/jmbe/10.1128/jmbe.v17i1.984-aff2],com.pub2web.rdf.cci.facet.ContentItem[id=http://asm.metastore.ingenta.com/content/affiliation/jmbe/10.1128/jmbe.v17i1.984-aff1]]}]]
Citation: Barberán A, Hammer T, Madden A, Fierer N. 2016. Microbes should be central to ecological education and outreach. J. Microbiol. Biol. Educ. 17(1):23-28 doi:10.1128/jmbe.v17i1.984
/content/jmbe/10.1128/jmbe.v17i1.984.f1-jmbe-17-23
FIGURE 1

Percentage of books published over the past 60 years that mention the terms “animal ecology,” “plant ecology,” or “microbial ecology” in the text. Data from Google Ngrams ( 36 ).

jmbe/17/1/jmbe-17-23f1_thmb.gif
jmbe/17/1/jmbe-17-23f1.gif
Image of FIGURE 1

Click to view

FIGURE 1

Percentage of books published over the past 60 years that mention the terms “animal ecology,” “plant ecology,” or “microbial ecology” in the text. Data from Google Ngrams ( 36 ).

Source: J. Microbiol. Biol. Educ. March 2016 vol. 17 no. 1 23-28. doi:10.1128/jmbe.v17i1.984
Download as Powerpoint

Back to top
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Please check the format of the address you have entered.
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error