U.S. Army MoBE Collaboration Opportunity

  Captain William A. Pratt, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, invites interested MoBE community members to discuss collaborative opportunities for three troop construction projects to be initiated in the next 6 months: * Bunkhouse construction project: opportunities to discuss building design options, indoor microbial monitoring * Lighting project for an existing structure: UV light testing, …

BE microbiome as biosensors

  Hi MoBE blog, I just wanted to share a piece that I recently wrote for a Special Issue on the journal Microbial Biotechnology. The Special issue presents a collection articles about “The contribution of microbial biotechnology to sustainable development goals”, and the title of my article is “Microbial communities as biosensors for monitoring urban …

Talk by Rich Corsi: Living in a Material World: Why the Surfaces that Surround You Affect What You Breathe

Rich Corsi was at UC Davis today giving a talk. The announcement for the talk with a summary is below: Living in a Material World: Why the Surfaces that Surround You Affect What You Breathe Richard L. Corsi, Ph.D., The University of Texas at Austin Environmental & Water Resources Fall Seminar Series Tuesday, October 3, …

History repeats itself – mold and hurricane recovery

This seems worth looking over: The Looming Consequences of Mold in Houston by James Hamblin in The Atlantic.  The article has a discussion of mold and moisture and the microbiology of the built environment. It includes a discussion of some of the experiences and work of Joan Bennett who is a well known expert in …

Master’s Thesis of Possible Interest: role of hospital toilets in microbial dissemination & the effectiveness of UV C 

Just got notified of this via some automated Google Scholar searchers and it seems like it might be of interest: Source: The role of hospital toilets in microbial dissemination and the effectiveness of ultraviolet C irradiation – UBC Library Open Collections Master’s thesis by Jesse Cooper from UBC.   See some discussion of this on …

What is the Exposome of the Built Environment and What are the Opportunities for Intentional Design?

  Researchers at Virginia Tech’s Center for Science and Engineering of the Exposome (SEE) recently published a critical review in ES&T examining the “exposome of the built environment” and proposed engineering strategies for its control. The exposome is defined as our lifetime exposure to chemicals, microbes, and radiation and derives from anything we come into …

Worth a look: DNA Links Deadly Germs, Tainted Heart Surgery Devices To German Factory 

Quick post here. This is definitely worth a look for those interested in hospital acquired infections, microbial genomics, and genomic epidemiology or related topics. LivaNova plant in Germany is the likely source behind outbreak that has sickened more than 100 people since 2013. Source: DNA Links Deadly Germs, Tainted Heart Surgery Devices To German Factory …