MEEHubs
In 2024, we organized and hosted MEEHubs2024, an international conference in a hybrid multi-hub format. It was the first of its kind in the field of microbial ecology and evolution. We were delighted at the wide-spread positive responses of this new conference format.
We wrote an article about our experience as organisers, as well as the perception of the attendees.
We are planning this conference again in 2026. We hope to see you there!
Skype a Scientist
Skype a Scientist connects researchers from across the world with school-aged children. We are passionate about sharing research in classroom discussions, where the most creative questions and topics often surface. “What is the most dangerous bacteria you’ve ever seen?” “What is the biggest and smallest bacteria in the whole world?”
Outreach at Glastonbury Music Festival
The gut microbiome is becoming a topic of conversation everywhere, and the public generally agrees that gut health is important. In a team of 6 early career researchers (aka The Gut Florists), we set up a stall at Glastonbury Music Festival 2024 to chat to the public about what the gut microbiome means to them. We discussed which claims of products and mainstream media about the gut microbiome are research-based, and what evidence may instead be correlative and anecdotal.
We compiled a list of resources for people to look into, and gave away some pretty cool tattoos of the Glastonbury headliners of 2024 reimagined as bacteria: Salmonella Twain, Coldplague, etc.
The Bakkeren Lab 