A Review of I, Microbiologist

doi:10.1128/jmbe.v12i1.289

Michael R. Leonardo
Coe College, Cedar Rapids, IA, E-mail:
mleonard@coe.edu.

I, Microbiologist; 1^st ed.; Erin R. Sanders and Jeffrey H. Miller; (2010). ASM Press, Washington DC. 438 pages with an appendix.

I, Microbiologist is a combination book and lab manual designed for a microbial ecology or molecular evolution course. Unlike most texts, it is organized in a discovery-based format, providing a framework for learning the concepts and techniques required to perform both culture-based microbial ecology and molecular analysis of a terrestrial environment. I am very happy to see this approach, as it is the first discovery-based manual since Hudson and Sherman’s Explorations in Microbiology, which was last in print in 2001. As a trained microbial ecologist, I feel that this is the best way to present the discipline. Students need to understand that, when studying the microbial ecology of a natural habitat, one never knows what microorganisms may be there.

Sanders and Miller have organized the textbook into seven units, covering a complete community study including sample collection, culture-based, molecular, and culture-independent analysis, bioinformatics, and phylogenetics. The order of the topics is logical, starting with core concepts followed by relevant laboratory exercises in a project-based format. I very much like the inclusion of subtopics for analyzing related papers; these are organized to help teach the students to critically read the primary literature, a skill which will serve them well as future scientists. Each unit also contains definitions of the key terms and a set of assessment questions to help the students understand the concepts. Supporting primary literature references are also provided for each unit section, allowing the instructor to use them as needed.

A strong suit of this book is the handling of the lab exercises. Sanders and Miller introduce issues commonly encountered in academic research, such as challenging “project teams” to devise a research plan, a budget, and keep track of the costs using the “phylobucks” provided by the granting agency. I find this very important, as most students don’t realize the actual cost of doing experiments in the lab. It also presents the students with the time constraints typically placed on any “funded” project, since the team needs to have most major experiments completed within a ten-week timeframe – an eye-opening educational experience for them. The experimental sections are well organized, and include complete materials lists and a thorough explanation of the tests being performed. The authors also provide a “technical aside”, explaining any potential pitfalls students or instructor may encounter. Another interesting feature of this book is the ability for students to contribute their results to an online notebook affiliated with the text. Access must be granted, but it could be a good experience for the students to see what others have found for a similar set of experiments from different environments.

Overall, I find I, Microbiologist to be a solid, well-written book for teaching the concepts of environmental microbiology in a format that biology majors will easily grasp. The explanations are clear and to the point, and students will benefit from the concise nature of the material presented. It demonstrates the blending of “classic” and molecular microbiology techniques used by microbial ecologists today. The use of primary literature with the datasets provided help the instructor teach students how to interpret their own data when the time comes. The discovery-based format gives the students actual “research training” possibilities. As a professor for over ten years at predominantly undergraduate institutions, I would highly recommend this text for teaching undergraduates the field and practice of microbial ecology.

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JMBE
ISSN: 1935-7885

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Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education

A Review of I, Microbiologist