Last month was Women’s History Month, taking place annually throughout the month of March. It aims to highlight and reflect on the many, but often over-looked, achievements made by women throughout history – which have paved the way for the women of today. In this episode, to mark the month, we caught up with Society Champion and microbiologist, Dr Linda Oyama. Linda discusses her insights as a woman in science, by diving into some of her experiences, as well as her passion for outreach with young girls.

To keep up with Linda, you can find her on X @LindaOyama.

 Dr Claas Kirchhelle from University College Dublin will be giving the Hot Topic Lecture: "Faecal Flows – a very short history of microbiology, sewers, and Britain's rivers (ca.1850-2023)" at this years Annual Conference. Clare spoke to Claas to find out how he's feeling ahead of his lecture and to pick his brain about his intriguing research area.

If you're at Annual Conference this year, you can catch Claas' Hot topic Lecture at 8:45 on Thursday 11 April. Alternatively, Claas' lecture will be available online after Annual Conference.

Music by Denys Kyshchuk from Pixabay

You can download a full transcript of the podcast here.

In aid of The International Day of Women and Girls in Science Clare spoke to Professor Iruka Okeke and Professor Judith Armitage to discuss women in science. In this episode they discuss the importance of mentors, promotions in academia and the inequalities of maternity leave and Clare gains valuable insights from Judy and Iruka's impressive careers. 

To keep up with Judy and Iruka, you can find them on X @Armitage_Judy and @iruka_okeke.

Follow this link to read Judy's Microbial Primer.

Music by ComaStudio from Pixabay. 

In this episode of Microbe Talk Clare is joined by Rick Mumford, Deputy Chief Scientific Advisor & Deputy Director of Science Evidence & Research at the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA). They chat about research and surveillance of foodborne antimicrobial resistance (AMR), delivering on the 5-year National Action Plan and look to the future of foodborne AMR. 

If you’d like to read Rick’s paper, ‘Foodborne antimicrobial resistance (AMR) research and surveillance in the UK: priorities identified through the Food Standards Agency’s AMR programme review (2023)’ published in Journal of Medical Microbiology, the Society’s interdisciplinary journal for medical, veterinary and dental microbiology, you can do so here. 

If you’d like to keep up to date with the FSA’s science news, publications and research partnership opportunities you can sign up to their newsletter here.

If you’d like to get involved in tackling AMR you can find out more information on our Knocking out AMR project and register your interest on our website.

Music by Yrii Semchyshyn from Pixabay

A full transcript is available on our website.

It’s the final episode of 2023 so Clare, Katie and Adam got together to discuss their favourite Microbe Talk moments of 2023 and what they’re most looking forward to in 2024. 

If you want to listen back to any of the podcast episodes mentioned in the podcast you can find these below: 

The bacteriophage: is the enemy of our enemy a friend?

Dr John Munnoch discusses dyslexia

CRISPR - Cas9 Takes on AMR Plasmids

Conversations on Collaboration: Elaine Cloutman-Green on working across microbiology's disciplines

Annual Conference 2023: Demystifying Science Policy

Getting to grips with industry careers 

Conversations on Collaboration: Hilary Lappin-Scott on cultivating international partnerships

Conversations on Collaboration: Sir Paul Nurse on collaborative working and Horizon Europe

Bactobio collaboration

Get involved – Annual Conference video 

If you’re interested in getting involved in our Knocking out AMR project you can find out more here. 

You can find a full transcript of the podcast on our website. 

Music by Yurii Kohut from Pixabay 

In this episode of Microbe Talk, Policy and Engagement Officer Katie chats to Dr Tina Joshi and Dr Catrin Moore, the Microbiology Society members leading on the Society’s brand new antimicrobial resistance (AMR) project, Knocking Out AMR. In this episode, Katie, Tina and Catrin talk about what the new project is, how it came to be, and how people can get involved.

If you are interested in opportunities for organisations to collaborate with the Microbiology Society, please email [email protected] or to register your individual interest please visit the Knocking out AMR webpage. To find out about the latest updates, follow us on Twitter @MicrobioSoc using the hashtag #KnockingOutAMR.

You can follow Dr Catrin Moore on Twitter at @catmoore_1 and Dr Tina Joshi at @tinaljoshi

Music: ‘Relaxed Vlog (Night Street)’ by Ashot Danielyan from Pixabay

You can read the full podcast transcript here.

If you are interested in opportunities for organisations to collaborate with the Microbiology Society, please email [email protected] or to register your individual interest please visit the Knocking out AMR webpage. To find out about the latest updates, follow us on Twitter @MicrobioSoc using the hashtag #KnockingOutAMR. You can also read the latest edition of Microbiology Today here. 

To read Chloe's work published in Microbiology, visit our journals site.

You can keep up to date with Chloe's public engagement work visit MICROBIhOME for general microbiology and AMR content and here for phage content. 

Chloe's work is funded by Knowledge for Change and BBSRC.

Music: 'Origin' by Comma-Media via Pixabay. You can download a full transcript of the podcast on our website.

In this episode of Microbe Talk, our Policy and Engagement Officer Katie chats to Sir Paul Nurse, Director of the Francis Crick Institute and former President of the Royal Society. He was awarded the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of protein molecules that control the division of cells in the cell cycle and has since received over 70 honorary degrees. In this episode, Katie and Paul talk about the importance of collaboration and co-working in science, and discuss the UK’s recent re-association with Horizon Europe, the EU funding programme for research and innovation.

A full transcript of this episode is available on the Microbiology Society website.

You can read the official Microbiology Society response to the UK’s re-association with Horizon Europe, here.

Music: Glossy by Yrii Semchyshyn from Pixabay

Each year, Dyslexia Awareness Week gives us a chance to take some time to reflect and learn about the everyday challenges people can face when they have dyslexia. In this episode, Adam, (who has dyslexia himself) speaks to Dr John Munnoch, who was diagnosed with dyslexia around the age of 8, to discuss how he has been challenged within the field of microbiology. John also explains how he has found his own way of learning, and how he has benefitted from the support of his family, friends and colleagues throughout his career.

Music: Fairy Meeting -  Emily A. Sprague

In this episode of Microbe Talk, Policy and Engagement Officer Katie chats to Professor Hilary Lappin-Scott OBE, President of the Federation of European Microbiological Societies (FEMS) about her career so far, the importance of international collaboration in science and our recent re-association with Horizon Europe.  

A full transcript of this episode is available on the Microbiology Society website.

Music: Minimal Inspiring Ambient by ComaStudio from Pixabay

This year the Microbiology Society is hosting FIS (the Federation of Infection Societies (FIS) conference) in partnership with HIS and BIA. FIS is all about fostering cross-disciplinary collaboration, so in this episode of Microbe Talk Clare speaks to Professor Elaine Cloutman-Green , a microbiologist whose work spans clinical, lab, and patient-facing roles about the importance of collaboration across microbiology disciplines.
If you're inspired by this conversation and want more information regarding FIS, you can find the details and information on how to register here.

To find out more about the Society's Journal of Medical Microbiology which encourages the publication of cross-disciplinary research, please visit our website for more information about the scope and submission guidelines. 

To follow Elaine, she is @girlymicro. 

Music by Dmitrii Kolesnikova from Pixabay

You can also read the transcript of the podcast here.