A Winogradsky column - Named after Sergey Winogradsky, a famous Russian microbiologist from the 1880’s, this column of water, dirt and nutrients will create a wonderful new home for a variety of microorganisms. Learn more here.

Every wonder what kind of living organisms thrive in different types of dirt? Curious about microbes, biodiversity and the world of microscopy? If so, we have a wonderful new community project for you to join called DirtLife! This new group of 6 dirt & microbe enthusiasts currently meets at SoundBio Lab every Sunday morning. With diverse backgrounds, participants bring a variety of expertise to the table, so everyone gets to learn. No prior experience necessary!

The goal of this group is to get better acquainted with the microbes that live in our soil and local waterways. Because the group is new, they are currently trying out a number of different mini-project ideas until they settle on something long term. So far, the team has created soil ‘micro-growth’ chambers (pictured), looked at different water samples using various microscopes, and plated out symbiotic fungi on agar plates together with plant hosts.

Curious but not sure where to start? Please consider stopping by Sunday morning, or reaching out to DirtLife lead - Orlando de Lange. Contact him at delangeo (at) gmail.com. Happy digging!

Culturing different fungi on plant hosts.