Entomology
Purdue hosts ‘Metaphors for Microbiomes’ workshop on science rhetoric
Purdue Applied Microbiome Sciences will host “Metaphors for Microbiomes,” a workshop led by Colorado State University associate professor Erika Szymanski. (Purdue Applied Microbiome Sciences photo/Laramy Enders) WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — On March 3, Purdue Applied Microbiome Sciences (PAMS) will host “Metaphors for Microbiomes,” a workshop led by Erika Szymanski, associate professor of science rhetoric in the Department of English at Colorado State University, about the metaphors that scientists use to make sense of microbiomes.
PAMS is an interdisciplinary community composed of scientists from the colleges of Agriculture, Engineering, Health and Human Sciences, and Veterinary Medicine. Their focus on developing the knowledge and tools required to predict and control microbiomes for improved health, economic benefit and environmental sustainability aligns with the university’s One Health initiative.
Students, faculty and staff involved or interested in research about microbial communities and microbiomes are invited to attend one of the two-hour sessions, which will be held in Stone Hall, Room 144AB. Participants will learn how values, priorities and assumptions affect microbiome research and identify new strategies for using metaphors to imagine and explain research through small group exercises and other networking opportunities.
Szymanski, a science communicator and rhetorician, studies how language shapes scientific practice and human-microbe relationships. Her workshop examining how metaphors influence microbiome research is part of her National Science Foundation CAREER project, microbiomish.
The same material will be presented at both sessions, so attendees should only sign up for one. You can register for the 10 a.m. or 2 p.m. session at https://forms.gle/gLTRrnbUPWWeTxDp9.
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Writer: Katherine Jacobson, jacob149@purdue.edu
Media contact: Devyn Ashlea Raver, draver@purdue.edu
Sources: Laramy Enders, lenders@purdue.edu
Agricultural Communications: Maureen Manier, mmanier@purdue.edu, 765-494-8415
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