Uploaded November 2015 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
I teach a freshman writing course at the University of Puget Sound that uses symbioses and parasitism as a focal point. Students learn about various associations between organisms, positive and negative, and develop skills in writing, evaluating scientific and popular literature, and creating presentations. As part of this course, several scientists have offered to "tele-visit" my classroom to discuss student questions.
Dr. Susan Perkins, Curator and Professor of Microbial Genomics at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, is our fifth "visitor" for this Fall 2015 course. Her faculty profile is:
amnh.org/our-research/staff-directory/susan-perkins
And Dr. Perkins' blog and laboratory website can be found here:
susanperkins.net
Dr. Perkins has an impressive set of skills relevant to the interests my students and I share as part of this course, including the biology of parasites, studies on the microbiome, and outreach to the public. In fact, Dr. Perkins has just coauthored a book on the microbiome that is proudly in my collection:
yalebooks.com/book.asp?isbn=9780300208405
She has also co-curated a AMNH exhibit on the microbial world that I am burning to visit:
amnh.org/explore/science-topics/health-and-our-microbiome/meet-your-microbiome
And given the subject matter of our course, we would be remiss for not mentioning her work on the great blog, "Parasite of the Day."
dailyparasite.blogspot.com
Thus, my class---and absolutely yours truly---genuinely is looking forward to our "tele-meeting" with Dr. Perkins, and her thoughts about various student questions.
I hope you enjoy this virtual visit from one coast to the other!
I teach a freshman writing course at the University of Puget Sound that uses symbioses and parasitism as a focal point. Students learn about various associations between organisms, positive and negative, and develop skills in writing, evaluating scientific and popular literature, and creating presentations. As part of this course, several scientists have offered to "tele-visit" my classroom to discuss student questions.
Dr. Susan Perkins, Curator and Professor of Microbial Genomics at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, is our fifth "visitor" for this Fall 2015 course. Her faculty profile is:
amnh.org/our-research/staff-directory/susan-perkins
And Dr. Perkins' blog and laboratory website can be found here:
susanperkins.net
Dr. Perkins has an impressive set of skills relevant to the interests my students and I share as part of this course, including the biology of parasites, studies on the microbiome, and outreach to the public. In fact, Dr. Perkins has just coauthored a book on the microbiome that is proudly in my collection:
yalebooks.com/book.asp?isbn=9780300208405
She has also co-curated a AMNH exhibit on the microbial world that I am burning to visit:
amnh.org/explore/science-topics/health-and-our-microbiome/meet-your-microbiome
And given the subject matter of our course, we would be remiss for not mentioning her work on the great blog, "Parasite of the Day."
dailyparasite.blogspot.com
Thus, my class---and absolutely yours truly---genuinely is looking forward to our "tele-meeting" with Dr. Perkins, and her thoughts about various student questions.
I hope you enjoy this virtual visit from one coast to the other!
