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Editor's Pick Commentary | Applied and Environmental Science

Binning Singletons: Mentoring through Networking at ASM Microbe 2019

Joseph B. James, Amanda L. Gunn, Denise M. Akob
Joseph B. James
aU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Gulf Ecology Division, Gulf Breeze, Florida, USA
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Amanda L. Gunn
bGrays Harbor College, Aberdeen, Washington, USA
cFred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington, USA
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Denise M. Akob
dU.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia, USA
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DOI: 10.1128/mSphere.00643-19
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ABSTRACT

The American Society for Microbiology (ASM) national conference, Microbe, is the flagship meeting for microbiologists across the globe. The presence of roughly 10,000 attendees provides enormous opportunities for networking and learning. However, such a large meeting can be intimidating to many, especially early career scientists, students, those attending alone, and those from historically underrepresented groups. While mentorship is widely valued by ASM and its members, finding concrete ways to develop new and diverse mentoring opportunities can be a challenge. We recognized the need for an initiative aimed at expanding peer-to-peer mentoring, facilitating networking, and providing support for Microbe attendees; therefore, we created the program Binning Singletons for ASM Microbe 2019. The program consisted of five steps named after tools or phenomena in the profession of microbiology: (i) Identify the Singletons (e.g., individuals attending alone), (ii) Bin the Singletons, (iii) Horizontal Transfer, (iv) Quorum Sensing, and (v) Exponential Growth. These steps resulted in the matching of participants unsure of how to get the most out of their conference experience (e.g., singletons) with mentors who assisted with meeting planning, networking, and/or impostor syndrome. Started on social media only a month before ASM Microbe 2019, the program successfully launched despite limited time and resources. Binning Singletons improved inclusivity and networking opportunities for participants at the conference. Here, we discuss what worked, and what can be improved, with an eye toward development of the Binning Singletons model for future conferences to provide opportunities to increase inclusivity, networking, and accessibility for singletons and build a stronger scientific community.

The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of the journal or of ASM.

This is a work of the U.S. Government and is not subject to copyright protection in the United States. Foreign copyrights may apply.

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Binning Singletons: Mentoring through Networking at ASM Microbe 2019
Joseph B. James, Amanda L. Gunn, Denise M. Akob
mSphere Jan 2020, 5 (1) e00643-19; DOI: 10.1128/mSphere.00643-19

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Binning Singletons: Mentoring through Networking at ASM Microbe 2019
Joseph B. James, Amanda L. Gunn, Denise M. Akob
mSphere Jan 2020, 5 (1) e00643-19; DOI: 10.1128/mSphere.00643-19
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  • Top
  • Article
    • ABSTRACT
    • MENTORING IN STEM
    • THE ORIGIN STORY
    • HOW DOES BINNING SINGLETONS WORK?
    • FOLLOW-UP
    • COMMUNICATION
    • THE BINS AND GOALS
    • THE MIXER
    • IMPACT
    • FUTURE DIRECTIONS
    • ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
    • REFERENCES
  • Figures & Data
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF

KEYWORDS

Microbe
mentoring
networking

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