The Small World Initiative® 4th Annual Symposium (at ASM Microbe) will take place June 1st-June 5th in New Orleans, Louisiana. This is a great opportunity for students to present their research and get exposed to the many career and research paths in microbiology and for faculty to connect, collaborate, and share classroom innovations. Please click here to download the program. To download a flyer for this year's symposium, please click here. If you are interested in attending all or part of our events on June 1st and are not a current Small World Initiative student or faculty member, please click here.

click here to download the 2017 program.

Symposium Highlights

Keynote: A Conversation with Dr. Jo Handelsman

On Thursday, June 1st, SWI President & CEO Erika Kurt will sit down with Dr. Jo Handelsman for an engaging conversation covering her initiatives in public service, innovative thinking on science education, vision for antibiotic discovery, and advice for students. Dr. Handelsman stands out as a changemaker, visionary, and maverick in science and education. Her scientific research focuses on studying the diversity of microbes in soil as well as microbial communities and interactions in soil and insect gut. She was one of the pioneers of metagenomics, a functional approach to studying the genetic diversity of unculturable bacteria in environmental samples. In addition, Dr. Handelsman is known internationally for her efforts to improve science education and participation of women and minorities in science and co-founded the Wisconsin Program for Scientific Teaching, the Yale Center for Scientific Teaching, and the National Academies Summer Institute on Undergraduate Education. In 2012, she launched an undergraduate course titled "From Microbes to Molecules" with Dr. Carol Bascom-Slack with the goal of strengthening STEM education, addressing the antibiotic crisis, and sharing her passion for soil microbes.

Dr. Handelsman is the outgoing Associate Director for Science in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), appointed by President Obama and confirmed by the Senate in June of 2014, and helped advise the President on the implications of science for the Nation, ways in which science can inform US policy, and Federal efforts in support of scientific research. In February 2017, she was tapped to lead the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW). Prior to joining OSTP, she was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor and Frederick Phineas Rose Professor in the Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology at Yale University. She received her Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from UW in 1984, and she served on UW's faculty from 1985 until moving to Yale in 2010. Dr. Handelsman's leadership has led to her appointment as the first President of the Rosalind Franklin Society; her appointment as President of the American Society for Microbiology in 2013; her service on the National Academies' panel that wrote the 2006 report, "Beyond Bias and Barriers: Fulfilling the Potential of Women in Academic Science and Engineering;" her role as co-chair of the PCAST working group that developed the 2012 report, “Engage to Excel,” which contained recommendations to the President to strengthen STEM education to meet the workforce needs of the next decade in the United States; and her selection by President Obama to receive the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring.

Poster Session

On Thursday, June 1st, Small World Initiative students and faculty will present posters on their scientific research. The session will be open to ASM Microbe general session attendees. Beverages will be served. To submit a poster abstract, please click here. Please note that you must submit your poster abstract by Monday, May 15th at midnight Eastern Time. To view last year's poster abstracts, please click here. To see our grading rubric from last year, please click here. For poster sizing, each person has a maximum space of 4ft x 4ft for his/her poster, and the poster must fit in this space. Please note that the actual poster boards are 8ft x 4ft and are shared. The Symposium Committee will accept at least one poster per school (unless it is determined to be in violation of SWI's values).

Tapas: Just a Taste

Following the poster session, Small World Initiative faculty will present a series of short (4-minute) talks on an exciting array of topics, from new lab methodologies implemented in SWI courses to special projects that are extending SWI’s reach beyond the university classroom. Beverages will be served. To submit a tapas talk proposal, please click here. Please note that you must submit your proposal by Monday, May 15th at midnight Eastern Time. Please click here to download the slides from last year’s session. The PowerPoint presentation format is 16x9, and each presenter may use one slide. For information on how to convert a presentation to this format, please click here. If you need a 16x9 PowerPoint presentation template, click here.

Graduate and Professional School Expo

On Thursday, June 1st, the Small World Initiative will host the first-ever Graduate and Professional School Expo. If you represent a school and are interested in having a booth, please contact us here or email Dr. Mustafa Morsy at mmorsy [at] uwa [dot] edu. For more information on participating schools, please click here. Students have the option of electing to share their contact information and resumes with participating schools by uploading them here.

Tentative Full Schedule of Events

Thursday, June 1, 2017

SWI Symposium – ASM Society Day – The SWI Symposium will be held in room 271 at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, 900 Convention Center Blvd., New Orleans, LA 70130.
- Student Scavenger Hunt Virtual Launch: 11:00AM (closes noon on Saturday)
- Graduate and Professional School Expo: 11:00AM-2:30PM
- Faculty Tapas Session: 11:00AM-12:00PM
- Student & Faculty Posters: 12:15PM-2:15PM
- Keynote – Dr. Jo Handelsman: 2:30PM-3:30PM
- Student & Faculty Group Photograph: 3:30PM-3:45PM
- Symposium Awards: 4:00PM-4:30PM
ASM Microbe
- Arrival and Registration for ASM Microbe: 7:00AM-8:00PM
- ASM Microbe Opening Session: 5:00PM-6:45PM
- ASM Microbe Opening Reception: 6:45PM-8:00P M

Friday, June 2, 2017

SWI Student & Faculty Meet & Greet: TBD
Informal Dinner Gathering: place/price TBD

Saturday, June 3, 2017

Meet the Experts: Todd Kelson (SWI) & TBD (SEA-PHAGES) "How to Engage Undergraduates in Discovery-Based Learning": 7:30AM-8:30AM
ASM Microbe Keynote Address: 6:15PM-7:15PM

Logistics

ASM Microbe 2017 will take place in New Orleans, Louisiana at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, 900 Convention Center Blvd., New Orleans, LA 70130 and the surrounding hotels. SWI's events on June 1st will be at the convention center. For more information on ASM Microbe, please click here. To register for ASM Microbe, please click here. It is more economical to register as a member, and the most economical registration options for faculty and students is provided below. Prices increase starting April 20, 2017.

ASM Microbe Registration

ASM Microbe Registration Costs Before April 20, 2017

For Faculty – Contributing Member Registration $545 + Contributing Membership $55 = $600 (For single day registration: $195 + $55 = $250.)

For Students – Student Member Registration $195 + Student Membership $22 = $217 (If you have four students attending, it is possible to bundle and purchase four student memberships for $17 each for the same class/school.)

ASM Microbe Registration Information

ASM Membership Information

Hotel Information

ASM has blocked rooms at a number of hotels through Experient. All reservations through Experient must be made by Wednesday, May 17, 2017. Even if you are not sure of your hotel, we recommend booking in advance as they fill up quickly and canceling if necessary. Changes and cancellations may be made through Experient until May 17, 2017 (5pm EST). Beginning May 22, 2017, changes and cancellations must be done directly with the hotel. Failure to cancel your hotel reservation 72 hours prior to your arrival will result in a cancellation fee equal to the first night's room rate. Currently, the least expensive hotel option is the Wyndham at $169 per night. However, ASM is looking into two hostel options. Our events are starting at 11am on Wednesday, June 1st. Depending on where you are arriving from, you may need to arrive on May 31st. ASM Microbe's Keynote Address is scheduled for the evening of June 3rd. If you wish to have your students share rooms with students from other schools, please contact SWI's Symposium Committee Chair Mustafa Morsy at mmorsy [at] uwa [dot] edu. For more information on the hotels, please click here.

Travel Grants

Last year, ASM provided funding for three SWI faculty to attend ASM Microbe – Drs. Claudia Gentry-Weeks, Cliff Grimsley, and Barbara Fishel. This year, ASM has agreed to provide $6,000 in funding to support SWI faculty and students. The Symposium Committee has decided that the travel grant amounts will be determined based on merit, need, and the total number of applications. To apply for a travel grant for faculty and/or students, please click here to fill out a short form. The deadline to submit the form is Monday, April 3rd at midnight Eastern Time.

Symposium Committee Members

Dr. Elizabeth L. Roberts (Southern Connecticut State University)
Dr. Huda Makhluf (National University)
Dr. Misty Thomas (North Carolina A&T State University)
Dr. Mustafa Morsy (University of West Alabama)
Dr. Roger Greenwell (Worcester State University)
Dr. Souzan Eassa (University of Arkansas, Little Rock)
Dr. Todd Kelson (Brigham Young University)

Photo Galleries

Symposium Photo Gallery

Check back here after the Symposium...

Scavenger Hunt Photo Gallery