Dr Bridget Kelly, lecturer in Life and Health Science at DkIT, along with artists Sally-Ann Duffy and Caroline Clarke from Bailieborough Creative Hub, recently ran science outreach workshops with first year students at Bailieborough Community School. This creative project, funded by an education and outreach grant from the Microbiology Society, aimed to raise an awareness of microbes and microbiology with the secondary school students. 

At the beginning of the workshops, Bridget gave an overview of the diversity of the microbial world, and the different types of places where they live. After that introduction, Sally-Ann and Caroline provided the students with a variety of creative materials (art and craft supplies, wool, material and thread) as well as some petri dishes in order to guide the creation of petri dish art inspired by microbiology. About l20 students attended the workshops, and there was positive feedback from both the students and their teachers.