A few weeks ago, I had the chance to attend the ASM Microbe 2018 Conference from the American Society for Microbiology (ASM), held in Atlanta, USA.
Atlanta is an astonishing city well known for being the centre for entertainment in the South. The city is full of diverse museums such as the Atlanta History Centre, the Centre for Civil and Human Rights and the Martin Luther King Jr National Historic Site. There are also other attractive sites such as the Aquarium, the Atlanta Zoo (the only site in the USA with adorable panda twins), the World of Coca Cola (the birthplace of Cola-Cola, where the secret recipe is safely stored) and the CNN Studio among others landmarks like the Centennial Olympic Park and the film locations from “The Walking Dead” and “The Hunger Games”.
Top: Aerial view of Centennial Olympic Park. Bottom: CNN centre and Omni Atlanta Hotel
ASM Microbe 2018 was held in the Georgia World Congress Centre, which is the fourth-largest convention centre in the USA. In 1.4 million square feet of prime space it comprises more than 100 meeting rooms, 6 fixed-seat auditoriums and 12 exhibit halls which make it ideal for holding this massive conference.
The Georgia World Congress Centre, the venue for ASM Microbe 2018
With more than 10,000 attendees and 214 exhibitors, featuring over 200 sessions and more than 5,000 posters, the ASM Microbe Conference is the largest gathering of microbiologists in the world. Something interesting about this Conference is that it includes a broad spectrum of microbiology; it was divided in 8 categories:
First day of poster session
Although there were main categories, there were also sub-tracks covering cellular, environmental, ecological and evolutionary microbiology, microbial pathogenesis, and infectious diseases, applied and clinical microbiology, pharmacology and microbiology education. My abstract titled “Characterisation of microbial populations in highly radioactive storage facilities in Sellafield, UK” was selected as a poster for the Microbial Ecology and Evolution topic.
Presenting my poster
Microbe 2018 provided an excellent networking environment and I had the chance to meet people from all over the world and could exchange ideas across multiple disciplines. I had very useful feedback and relevant suggestions about my work. At the end of the second day of activities there was a reception called “35th Annual Minority Microbiologists Mixer” that was an excellent opportunity to meet new people. Food and wine were really good, but what I like the most is that I had the time to meet minority people like me that are doing significant scientific work around the globe. Although there are still certain limitations for vulnerable groups, I was surprised by the number of ethnic minority scientists that today take part in such relevant and interesting projects and jobs. I met fascinating, and above all humble Latin people, working on very interesting microbiology projects such as antimicrobial resistance, medical zoology , climate change and environmental programs sponsored by the US EPA (Environmental Protection Agency).
As additional information, the American Society for Microbiology is the oldest and largest single life science membership organization in the world. It was founded in 1988 with only 59 scientists and today has grown to more than 39,000 members.
Top: Atlanta Street art. Bottom: Main entrance of the Conference centre.
To sum up, the ASM Microbe 2018 Conference was an overwhelming experience where I had the chance to meet incredible people, made new friends and had very interesting peer reviews. I even had the chance to meet people from nuclear facilities in the USA and Europe who were interested in the work the Geomicro Group does. This Conference has definitely been one of the greatest experiences of my PhD.
By Sharon Ruiz
In September, myself and a few other members of the Manchester Geomicrobiology group made the long journey out to Japan for the 17th International Conference on the Chemistry and Migration Behaviour of Actinides and Fission Products in the Geosphere – better known as Migration 2019. The conference series is renowned for being well attended and […]
Last week I attended my first Goldschmidt conference (and last conference during my PhD). The conference took place at the International Convention Centre in Barcelona from the 18th to the 23rd of August, where we had to spend over a week away from gloomy Manchester, what a concept! Although this conference was established to showcase […]
At the beginning of May, researchers from across the world met in Stockholm to discuss the successes of the Microbiology in Nuclear Waste Disposal (MIND) project, present their findings and discuss the future directions of research. From the Geomicrobiology Group at Manchester, Gina presented her work on radionuclide mobility in the presence of ISA and […]
During August, Sul and I travelled across the pond to ‘New’ England for the 2018 Goldschmidt Conference in Boston, Massachusetts. Goldschmidt is regarded as the foremost annual international conference on geochemistry and related subjects, and for the two of us, this was our second time presenting at this massive event. With the experience acquired last […]