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Bring Microbiology to Your Community

Host an Agar Art Workshop

Our participants have shown us time and again that you don't need to be an expert microbiologist to make beautiful agar art - it's something anyone can create with access to a basic laboratory. If you're looking for a way to engage your community with microbiology, consider hosting your own Agar Art workshop using our step-by-step Facilitator's Guide. To host a workshop, you need:

  • a space that is BSL-1 compliant, such as a high school or college biology laboratory
  • materials and equipment for cultivating microbes (complete list is in the guide)
  • someone with the appropriate experience to lead the workshop  
You can host a workshop at any time. Encourage your participants to sign up for our contest notifications (and refrain from posting their work online so they don't disqualify themselves) and they can enter their creation when we open submissions!

Note: To access the guide, we ask for your contact information so that we can collect feedback on how you're using the guide and ways it can be improved. 

2019 Partner Organizations

BUGSS is a non-profit public laboratory offering classes, seminars and lab access so that anyone can safely and affordably investigate the living world. We are a community of amateurs, professionals, citizen scientists, activists and artists exploring biotechnology through scientific and artistic investigations. We hope to serve as a space for open dialogue, and “learning through doing.”
BUGSS is a non-profit public laboratory offering classes, seminars and lab access so that anyone can safely and affordably investigate the living world. We are a community of amateurs, professionals, citizen scientists, activists and artists exploring biotechnology through scientific and artistic investigations. We hope to serve as a space for open dialogue, and “learning through doing.”

Bioriidl is a Do-It-Yourself/community biology lab and a business incubator for life sciences startups in Mumbai, India.
Bioriidl is a Do-It-Yourself/community biology lab and a business incubator for life sciences startups in Mumbai, India.

BosLab is a non-profit community lab. Our mission is to democratize biotechnology for everyone, outside of academia and industry. We offer classes, educational workshops, and a laboratory to support DIYBio research. We advocate for scientific transparency through engaging all members of the community and encourage scientific discussion in a fun, safe, and inclusive environment.
BosLab is a non-profit community lab. Our mission is to democratize biotechnology for everyone, outside of academia and industry. We offer classes, educational workshops, and a laboratory to support DIYBio research. We advocate for scientific transparency through engaging all members of the community and encourage scientific discussion in a fun, safe, and inclusive environment.

The Capital Area BioSpace (CABS) is a place in the DMV to explore and be creative with biology. CABS was founded with the idea that biotechnology should be accessible to everyone, not just billion-dollar companies and universities. Whether you are a tinkerer, child, child at heart or an ambitious future entrepreneur; we have something for you.
The Capital Area BioSpace (CABS) is a place in the DMV to explore and be creative with biology. CABS was founded with the idea that biotechnology should be accessible to everyone, not just billion-dollar companies and universities. Whether you are a tinkerer, child, child at heart or an ambitious future entrepreneur; we have something for you.

In 1988, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory established the DNA Learning Center (DNALC) as the world’s first science center devoted entirely to public genetics education, operating 7 teaching laboratories in Cold Spring Harbor, Lake Success, Manhattan and Brooklyn. The DNALC popularized several methods for delivering genetics instruction, including: student laboratory field trips and summer camps, educator workshops, biotechnology kits, laboratory textbooks, equipment sharing consortia, student DNA sequencing, educational interfaces to bioinformatics tools and multimedia learning materials for biology education.
In 1988, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory established the DNA Learning Center (DNALC) as the world’s first science center devoted entirely to public genetics education, operating 7 teaching laboratories in Cold Spring Harbor, Lake Success, Manhattan and Brooklyn. The DNALC popularized several methods for delivering genetics instruction, including: student laboratory field trips and summer camps, educator workshops, biotechnology kits, laboratory textbooks, equipment sharing consortia, student DNA sequencing, educational interfaces to bioinformatics tools and multimedia learning materials for biology education.

Counter Culture Labs is a community of scientists, tinkerers, biotech professionals, hackers, and citizen scientists who have banded together to create an open community lab — a microbiology lab built in the spirit of 'hacker spaces' and 'maker spaces', supported by the community it serves to educate.
Counter Culture Labs is a community of scientists, tinkerers, biotech professionals, hackers, and citizen scientists who have banded together to create an open community lab — a microbiology lab built in the spirit of 'hacker spaces' and 'maker spaces', supported by the community it serves to educate.

The best way to inform 21st-century dialogue about science is to have stakeholders understand it from a hands-on perspective. To this end, Genspace is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting science literacy through citizen access to biotechnology. We provide STEM educational outreach, cultural events, and a platform for science innovation at the grassroots level.
The best way to inform 21st-century dialogue about science is to have stakeholders understand it from a hands-on perspective. To this end, Genspace is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting science literacy through citizen access to biotechnology. We provide STEM educational outreach, cultural events, and a platform for science innovation at the grassroots level.

From Microbes to Dinos, the Department of Biological Sciences at NC State University focuses on interdisciplinary education and diverse research opportunities to explore some of the most pressing scientific issues facing our world.
From Microbes to Dinos, the Department of Biological Sciences at NC State University focuses on interdisciplinary education and diverse research opportunities to explore some of the most pressing scientific issues facing our world.

Ohlone is a California Community College with university transfer programs, career/job skills training and more. Campuses in Fremont, Newark and online.
Ohlone is a California Community College with university transfer programs, career/job skills training and more. Campuses in Fremont, Newark and online.

Start your experiments at the Open BioLab located in Brussels! Open for everyone with an interest in biosciences and biotechnology. Check our instagram for a fun overview of our activities: https://instagram.com/openbiolabbxl/.
Start your experiments at the Open BioLab located in Brussels! Open for everyone with an interest in biosciences and biotechnology. Check our instagram for a fun overview of our activities: https://instagram.com/openbiolabbxl/.

Peshawar 2.0 is a non-profit social enterprise that works at the intersection of technology, design and art and aims to engineer and foster the innovation and startup ecosystem in the City of Peshawar, Pakistan.
Peshawar 2.0 is a non-profit social enterprise that works at the intersection of technology, design and art and aims to engineer and foster the innovation and startup ecosystem in the City of Peshawar, Pakistan.

RAIN Incubator is a Tacoma, Washington-based 501(c)3 nonprofit life science incubator growing local companies, talent, and jobs in biotech. We are the collaborative, boundary-crossing environment that serves to spark creativity and help innovators overcome the challenges they face by providing direct access to the people and resources needed to succeed.
RAIN Incubator is a Tacoma, Washington-based 501(c)3 nonprofit life science incubator growing local companies, talent, and jobs in biotech. We are the collaborative, boundary-crossing environment that serves to spark creativity and help innovators overcome the challenges they face by providing direct access to the people and resources needed to succeed.

The Bio Lab at the School of Visual Arts is a BSL-1 laboratory that enables artists working with biotechnology and the natural sciences. While the facilities are primarily utilized as a studio space for producing art, we also collaborate on more rigorous research and design projects that harness the intersecting resources. Our curriculum relies on project-based learning, as we work backward to lay the technical groundwork and conduct understanding through visual and visceral applications.
The Bio Lab at the School of Visual Arts is a BSL-1 laboratory that enables artists working with biotechnology and the natural sciences. While the facilities are primarily utilized as a studio space for producing art, we also collaborate on more rigorous research and design projects that harness the intersecting resources. Our curriculum relies on project-based learning, as we work backward to lay the technical groundwork and conduct understanding through visual and visceral applications.

Previous Partner Organizations (2017-2018)

BioHub Israel (BioHub IL) is a non-profit group with a common vision: Safe practice in biology should be available to everyone. Everyone? Yes, to everyone! The group appeals to anyone who wants a practical experience in biology, whether it is for study, hobby or an idea for a product. You are invited to follow our activities and join us for our monthly meetings!

Denver Biolabs is a community of interdisciplinary individuals - biologists, engineers, artists, computer scientists, enthusiasts and entrepreneurs - working together to learn about new technologies, share expertise, and create solutions to pressing problems.

The mission of TheLab is to make science accessible to people of all ages and educational backgrounds. We do this by providing laboratory equipment and workspace, resources which are typically out of the reach of the amateur, to anyone passionate about learning.

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