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UIS biology professor is co-author of award-winning curriculum resource

August 7, 2006

SPRINGFIELD – Michael Lemke, associate professor of Biology at the University of Illinois at Springfield, is co-author of "Exploring Microbial Diversity through a Microbe Collection," which has been named winner of the 2005 MicrobeLibrary Curriculum Resource Editor’s Choice Award presented by the American Society for Microbiology.

Lemke's co-authors in the project were Michael Levandowsky and Thomas Gorrell, both members of the biology faculty at Pace University in New York, and Debra Wohl, a member of the biology faculty at Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania.

Chosen from 13 resources published in the Curriculum Collection of ASM's MicrobeLibrary in 2005, the activity is designed to help students gain an appreciation for microbial diversity in the environment. By providing a framework for collecting diverse microorganisms, it also helps develop a variety of basic laboratory skills.

Lemke said that the main text was originally written for summer sessions of the Woodrow Wilson Fellowship Foundation and that the material reflects the approach he uses to teach labs in advanced ecology courses at UIS. 

ASM's MicrobeLibrary, a searchable collection of peer-reviewed material, is recognized as one of the best resources for information regarding the microbial world.

The American Society for Microbiology has as its mission to promote research and training in the microbiological sciences and to assist communication between scientists, policy makers, and the public to improve health, the environment, and economic well-being.