Image: A team of graduate students and Dr. Jennifer Walker visited the second grade classes of Malcom Bridge Elementary School in Bogart, Georgia to talk about the variety of microbes on the human body. Microbiology graduate students Julie Stoudenmire, Zac Saylor, Caitlin Reeves, Clay Crippen, Alan Schmalstig, and Kelsey Hodge took the trip to introduce seven and eight year olds to the differences between pathogens and normal flora. The trip was in response to a call from second grade teachers asking for professionals in various fields to visit the school. The students rotated among classrooms hosted by a pair of graduate students and Dr. Walker to perform various activities such as swabbing themselves for normal flora, tasting probiotics and discussing antibiotics. The visit helped bring awareness to students about the microbes that are essential to good health as well as how to avoid picking up pathogens. *Pictured: Alan Schmalstig from the Maier Lab (L) and Julie Stoudenmire from the Stabb Lab (R)
