IMD event in Brussels, Belgium
Saturday 17 September 2022, a day (10h00-18h00) full of cool science activities, tons of fun facts about microbes, and the important role they play in our daily lives!
At the Museum of Natural Sciences in Brussels, in the Mezzanine of the Gallery of Dinosaurs and in the Mineral Hall, The Young Belgian Society for Microbiology (YBSMicrobiology) celebrated the International Microorganism Day 2022 with a microbiology-related science fair. Around 1275 people (of different ages and genders) visited the museum and they participated in various activities/workshops organized by YBSM provided in different languages (EN, FR, NL, AR, SP, and IT).
Most of the visitors got engaged in several hands-on activities such as drawing their bacterial art on agar, prepare fermented foods, and joining the microscopy workshops. In addition, they had the chance to talk to several experts about hot trendy topics such as how microbes help us to live in space or degrade our wastes. The visitors learned about the human microbiome (in different body niches) with a very interactive display using a human avatar. Also, the use of microbes to produce industrial relevant products (like insulin) was one of the playful games visitors enjoyed.
Days later, YBSM was able to communicate with participants about the agar art workshop and send them back 145 brilliantly drawn art pictures with a concluding message “See how these amazing little creatures have brought your art to life - literally”. Feedback was collected based on a survey from different entities resulting in a positive impact which can be concluded in the following quote from the museum:
“how you explained your scientific domain was very interesting to our visitors. But also, very appealing: the perfect way to bring science closer to a non-scientific public”
This event, together with its social media #InternationalMicroorganismDay @YBSMicrobiology calls the attention of many parties who will be our collaborators for the next year event as BCCM and CIRCLES project.
For further details, please contact ybsm@belsocmicrobio.be
Follow The Young Belgian Society for Microbiology on Twitter @YBSMicrobiology