The Scientist, a leading science magazine focused on exploring life and inspiring innovation, included a feature article in the December 2024 issue on TMI’s founder, Dr. Anne A. Madden. The article, “Inside the Microbial Jungle: Tales from a microbe whisperer,” follows Dr. Madden’s origins as a “microbial whisperer,” and shares her recent efforts to build The Microbe Institute as a NASA for the microbial cosmos. According to their 2024 media kit, The Scientist includes a website with 8.5M pageviews per year, and over 290,000 email and 48,000 print subscribers.

TMI founder, Dr. Anne Madden was interviewed by Inspire High, an education technology company based in Japan that broadcasts its engaging interviews and associated lessons to students in over 10,000 high school classrooms across the world. Joining a group of students in Japan through this virtual event, Dr. Madden shared her experience of becoming a microbiologist, exploring the jungle, and ultimately finding microbes that can benefit humanity in unique ways.

Some of the student feedback:

“I really enjoyed listening to your thoughts about microbes and microbes themselves in last Friday's talking session! By listening to your whole session, I was amazed by the fact that microbes have the potential to be anything, such as dying color and changing flavors. As problems such as infectious diseases and environmental pollution have been increasing recently, I felt that microbes, which are still not fully discovered, can solve such problems! I got interested in the future development of microbial research and how it will coexist with society! Thank you very much for your wonderful talk!”

- Student participant

“I used to think of microorganisms, like mold, as villains. But I’ve learned that they can be superheroes solving problems in our daily lives—breaking down plastics, becoming dyes, or even serving as miracle drugs for diseases! Above all, I was truly impressed by your joyful and passionate way of talking about microorganisms. It made me want to find a passion that I can speak about with confidence.”

-武藤千春

“Thank you for such an insightful session today. I had never really thought much about microorganisms before, but your talk sparked my interest! It’s amazing to think that there are still so many undiscovered microorganisms with incredible potential out there. The world of microorganisms is truly fascinating and full of wonder. I’m now inspired to learn more about them on my own!”

-興津花純

“I was amazed to learn how microorganisms, which are usually invisible to the eye, are being used in so many ways in our daily lives! With so many challenges in the world that need to be addressed, I am really excited about the power of microorganisms and the research that will continue in the future! From this session, I learned that passion nurtures curiosity, and that curiosity can take you to places beyond your imagination. . . I can't wait for this session to reach many teenagers! Thank you so much!”

-平田詩乃

Anne A. Madden, Ph.D., Founder of The Microbe Institute, presented to over 120 6th graders in the fringe rural community of Gray-New Gloucester, Maine (MSAD15) as part of ME Bioscience Day—a day for “inspiring a new generation of scientists through hands-on education & industry connections,” organized by Bioscience Association of Maine. The students learned about Dr. Madden’s career in science, and her work exploring the microbial cosmos for beneficial microbes. The students then participated in a new STEAM activity developed by TMI to foster wonder and creativity (Project page coming soon!) Thanks to Bioscience Association of Maine and our in-kind supporter, Giantmicrobes for making these activities a huge success!

The Microbe Institute Content Creator (and former Fellow), and microbiologist and artist, Tracy Debenport presents at the Stanford Arts Institute on her work at The Microbe Institute, as well as in academia and industry, revealing the beauty of the microscopic world to engage new audiences. View the recording here: https://arts.stanford.edu/arts-institute/microbesandmushrooms/

TMI’s Purple Microbe Project and our Morocco Natural Dye Discovery Expedition were featured in an article in the October 2024 issue of The Scientist, a digital and print magazine focused on exploring life and inspiring innovation. According to their 2024 media kit, The Scientist includes a website with 8.5M pageviews per year, and over 290,000 email and 48,000 print subscribers.

Article Link.

Anne Madden of The Microbe Institute wins an international award for science advocacy and mentorship, presented by New England Biolabs as part of their Passion in Science Awards, which recognize scientists for their inspiring achievements beyond research. Full press release here.

Former TMI Fellow, and current TMI Creative Producer, Tracy Debenport (she/her), has produced “Made with Microbes”: a free art & activity book that highlights a few of the hard-working microbes from industry, medicine and food production. It contains art with descriptions and fun facts, as well as activities like coloring pages, word games and more! This activity book was downloaded more than 400 times in the first 24 hours of its release!

Dr. Anne A. Madden, Founder of The Microbe Institute, shares the microbiology of goat cheese in a joint presentation with Hope and Chris of Sunflower Farm and Creamery (a local goat farm and creamery in Cumberland, Maine). In attendance were first-generation students from Bowdoin College’s Upward Bound program. Thanks to Giantmicrobes for providing in-kind support to make this event such a success.

TMI’s Lichen Adventure Citizen Science Project was mentioned in the Kew Royal Botanic Gardens Report on the State of the World’s Plants and Fungi. It was mentioned as an example of a global initiative encouraging the public to search for lichens in their backyards and upload them to global databases to help “fill in gaps” in global understanding of fungal biodiversity.

Our newest Fellow, Sam Ruk (she/her), has created a science education website, “Interbiota,” which features the beneficial roles of microbes in our world. In Sam’s words, “I created ‘Interbiota’ to learn about microbiology. . . I tried to use language with enough clarity and accessibility that even I, a high school student, could understand the content. My hope is for anyone to be able to learn as much from my website as I learned by creating it.”

TMI’s Founder and Chief Scientist, Dr. Anne A. Madden was interviewed on NPR TED Radio hour where she discussed the beneficial role of microbes that live in, on, and around us and why it’s so important we conserve them in order to find the technology that will improve our future. Listen here.

The Microbe Institute Founder, Anne A. Madden, Ph.D. teamed up with a group of other National Geographic funded explorers and educators to lead an interdisciplinary STEM field class for 5th and 6th graders from Rexberg, ID middle school. The students participated in the Purple Microbe Project, the Lichen Adventure, and explored the science of local habitats while visiting Yellowstone National Park. This project and associated sample collection trip were made possible by funding support from the National Geographic Society and The Explorers Club. Youtube link to see a summary of the project and make sure to check out this student group’s final musical project on lichens and symbiosis after taking part in the Lichen Adventure!

TMI’s founder, Anne A. Madden, Ph.D. published a research paper on the impact of captivity and chronic stress on the microbiome of wild house sparrows. In collaboration with a team of scientists from Tufts University, Louisiana State University, Yale University, University of Colorado, and Colorado State University, she found that both captivity and mild chronic stress had dramatic, but somewhat reversible impacts on the microbiome of wild house sparrows. Read the full article, published in the Journal of Experimental Biology, here. This is The Microbe Institute’s first official research publication!

TMI Founder and Chief Scientist Dr. Anne A. Madden will present at the World Microbe Forum in June 2021, in a virtual session on the importance of science art activities in communicating science with the public.

Dr. Anne Madden, TMI’s Founder, was featured in the STEM-ed magazine, Brainspace (fall, 2020 issue), along with discussions of some of TMI’s projects. This award-winning magazine’s audience is 8-14 year olds.

TMI’s founder and chief scientist, Dr. Anne A. Madden, was featured in the cover article of the award-winning SMORE science education magazine. TMI’s project, Community of Microbes, was also featured in a sepearate article in the same issue (Mar/April 2020).