Pacific Northwest ASM meeting

If you live in the Pacific Northwest and want to learn more about microbiology, my alma mater is hosting the:

2006 Northwest Branch Meeting of the American Society For Microbiology
March 10 - 12

It's very affordable for those of you who are teachers and it's even on a weekend!

I'm biased, of course, but I think the meeting will be very informative and lots of fun!

There are some fascinating topics on the agenda.

Microbes, after all, were the first forms of life on our planet and have been voted the form of life most likely to be found out in the solar system. (Wouldn't that be a good one in your high school yearbook!)

True to form, the meeting will have Roger Buick (Earth and Space Sciences, UW) talking about the Earliest Life on Earth and Tom Quinn (Astronomy, UW) talking about the formation of planets.

Since microbes live everywhere, we'll hear talks on those that live in Squid and those that colonize volcanos (before and after eruption).

Unfortunately, the microbes that colonize our bodies aren't always the best tenants. So we'll get to learn new things about the ones that make us sick and the ones where we're having a hard time getting acquainted with the culture (technique).

Last, there are lots of interesting talks about genomics and computational biology. I'm kind of unlucky, though, my talk is at the same time as Maynard Olson. So, you either get to hear one of the pioneers of the human genome project or you can come hear me.

I'll have cooler slides.

Subject: Announcements