Written by Rachel Yoho, Ph.D.

As a new faculty member, I’m ready to soak up all of the wisdom about finding funding for biology education activities and research I can. So far, I’ve heard that it boils down to persistence, choosing the right grant program, and building on small successes.

Regular and useful feedback heightens students’ motivation and strengthens the mentor/mentee relationship; the yield from this relationship will have a lasting influence on the student’s future. Regular feedback also instills core values for members of your laboratory to apply to all aspects of their professional careers. Student researchers want to do their best and enhance their science and communication skills while working in the lab, and these 5 recommendations to improve the quality of feedback can help them get the most out of their experience.

The U.S. scientific workforce doesn’t reflect the diversity of the U.S. population, though research suggests that more diverse teams have a greater scientific impact and solve problems better than less-diverse teams. Decades of effort by federal agencies, institutions of higher education, scientific societies, and others have been put into increasing the diversity of the scientific workforce, and while some progress has been made, there’s still a lot of work to do. As a faculty member, one way that you can help diversify the future STEM workforce (and your lab) is to mentor students by providing feedback on their presentations.

How do you know whether you and your colleagues teach microbiology concepts in a way that students understand and consistently recognize?  Concept inventories help instructors understand students’ retention of knowledge and identify common misconceptions. They provide assessment data that departments and institutions continually collect and analyze about student learning. They also provide an opportunity for faculty professional development and can reinforce concepts across a curriculum. 

Many nursing programs (particularly those offering a two-year associate’s degree in nursing) are facing pressure to reduce or eliminate microbiology in their curriculum. We invite you to join ASM’s Task Committee on Microbiology in the Nursing Curriculum at the ASM Conference for Undergraduate Educators (ASMCUE) 2017 for a series of sessions on challenges facing microbiology in the nursing curriculum, ASM Curriculum Guidelines and a Toolkit to foster the inclusion of microbiology, and a community discussion surrounding these topics. 

Dr. Stephen Goff, recipient of the 2017 ASM D.C. White Research and Mentoring Award, advises grad students and lab technicians to “go wherever smart people are doing great science.” During a recent symposium at ASM Microbe 2017, he shared some advice for principal investigators too, on being a good mentor and advisor. 

The ABRCMS conference for underrepresented minority students in STEM offers travel award opportunities for students who wish to present at the conference but don't have the funds to attend, as well as for faculty who are interested in judging student presentations.

Headed to New Orleans for ASM Microbe 2017? The online program is now available, and as a microbiology educator there are a few sessions that have me excited for the meeting to get under way. 

Here in the U.S. (and many other countries), it’s almost Mother’s Day.  In celebration, we’re offering up ideas to help you share your love of science with your mom (or other family and friends).