Resources for Undergraduate Students and Faculty


Discover the connections between microbial life, the history of the earth and our dependence on micro-organisms.

Explore Microbial Life

Ross Sea, Antarctica

Learn about microbial life in marine environments: Why are marine microbes so difficult to study? What tools are used to study them? Where can you find them?


Davis Mine USA.

Learn about microbial life in extreme environments: What makes an environment extreme? How has life adapted to these types environments? What is the history of life on Earth... and beyond?



Satellite image of the Gulf of Mexico. Light colored water shows, often nutrient-rich sediment flowing into the deeper ocean water. These nutrients facilitate growth of phytoplankton blooms, which can lead to hypoxic conditions.

These investigative case studies and special collections are dedicated to microbial ecology, evolution and diversity.



Elphidium

Search the collection of internet resources for undergraduates - including websites, articles, images, data sets, teaching activities, and more! Enter a search phrase or choose from the list of provided keywords to narrow your search.



Featured Resources

Eel Pond in Woods Hole MA
Living in the Microbial World is a summer workshop for educators, hosted by the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, MA. This on-line collection represents resources and activities developed for, and as a result of, the collaboration between teacher participants and Woods Hole scientists.


Wolbachia genome

Bioinformatics is the application of computer technology to the management of biological information. This Bioinformatics exercise represents a series of interrelated modules designed to introduce the student to modern biological techniques in the area of Bioinformatics.


Pond Trap

Bring em Back Alive is a series of activities that demonstrate various techniques for capturing free-living microbes from the environment.



Mono Lake
Los Angeles and the Future of Mono Lake is a WebQuest exploring the biodiversity, natural history, and preservation of Mono Lake. This activity calls upon the resources housed in MLER and asks students to consider the preservation of the Mono Lake environment in relation to the needs of humans.



Microbial LifePartners and Professional Societies

  • American Society for Microbiology features an extensive collection of resources for undergraduate microbiology research and education.
  • Astrobiology Institute, the mission of which is to study the origin, evolution, distribution, and future of life on Earth and in the Universe.
  • BiosciEdNet (BEN) ( This site may be offline. ) , a consortium of biological education resources managed by AAAS.
  • BioQUEST , actively supporting educators in the reform of undergraduate biology through publications, presentations, workshops, and the collaborative development of curricula.
  • Microbes.info (more info) , an easy-access site with international reach that contains useful and interesting microbiology informational resources.
  • MicrobeLibrary, A collection of original, peer-reviewed resources for teaching undergraduate microbiology!
  • National Science Digital Library, resource collections and services organized in support of science education at all levels.
  • Resources from the Science Education Resource Center are working to improve undergraduate STEM education. These resources were initially developed for Earth Science education, but they are broadly applicable to education in all STEM disciplines. We invite microbiologists to use these resources in their own instructrional activities, and to contribute new resources from microbiology to these growing collections.