Our Work
We provide resources to facilitate educators in teaching microbial sciences to a K-12 and undergraduate audience. These resources can also be used to support students in furthering their independent education. The collection was contributed by ASM volunteer members.
ASM Conference for Undergraduate Educators (ASMCUE)
Every year, ASMCUE gathers microbiology and biology educators from colleges, universities and educational partners for an interactive and re-invigorating conference. This meeting is driven by and for a community of passionate and inspiring educators, just like you!
Learn classroom strategies and share cutting-edge biology education research findings with colleagues who teach the same classes you do.
Publish With ASM
Submit to Journal of Microbiology and Biology Education (JMBE)
ASM's original open-access education journal, the Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education (JMBE) offers original, previously unpublished, peer-reviewed articles that foster scholarly teaching and provide readily adoptable resources in biology education.
Lesson Plans
Thanks to the contributions of undergraduate educators at prior ASMCUE meetings, we have developed an open-access collection of peer-reviewed lesson plans for K-12 and undergraduate classroom use (Creative Commons Attribution—Noncommercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International). A few of our most popular lesson plans are listed here, and the full library can be accessed below.
- Using Theater to Promote Understanding of the Immune System’s Response to Viral Infection: Students theatrically lead one another through the dynamics of a viral infection, while the instructor poses questions about ensuing host-microbe responses.
- Modeling the Rise of Antibiotic Resistance: Pasta is used to model what happens to the gut microbiome after multiple rounds of antibiotic treatment.
- What Food Does Yeast Like Best: Students design an experiment using balloons to create a closed system and measure yeast fermentation of different foods.
- Which Microbe Are you? Human Microbiome Edition: Students use discussion questions, a personality quiz and concept maps to explore the human microbiome.
Webinars
From improving your teaching to gaining leadership skills, we offer webinars to help you advance in your career. Access live and on-demand webinars, including:
- JMBE Live! 2024 Series.
- ABRCMS Online: Incorporating DEI in the Lab.
- Career Pathways in Microbiology.
Then browse and register for upcoming webinars to stay up to date in your field.
Workforce Trends: The Future of Microbial Sciences
To better understand the microbiology workforce, we commissioned a new study providing the most current look at the demographic makeup, employment patterns and occupations of the microbiology discipline. The report is a robust analysis of the microbiology discipline that explores key trends in education, employment, occupations, earnings and job satisfaction. Providing this robust analysis is essential for informing early-career scientists about the status of the pipeline and the outcomes for a career in microbiology. We will use this data to better prepare, train, advocate for and support individuals in the microbial sciences in order to develop an active and engaged workforce today and in the future.
ASM Future Leaders Mentoring Fellowship
The Future Leaders Mentoring Fellowship (FLMF) supports graduate students from underrepresented groups by providing mentorship for educational, career and leadership development.