Public Outreach
Here are selected examples of our recent participations to public outreach activities
07
Matters Microbial Podcast
Episode #103 – "Giant Bacteria and Bigger Questions" (August 14, 2025).
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Dr. Jean‑Marie Volland (UCSB Assistant Professor) joins to discuss Thiomargarita magnifica—the largest bacterium known—stretching nearly a centimeter in length. They dig into the implications of such a large microbe and what it means for biology and microbial scale.
06
Matters Microbial Podcast
Episode#76: Marvelous Multicellular Magnetotactic Microbes! (January 30, 2025).
Today, Dr. George Schaible, Postdoctoral Scholar at the University of California, Santa Barbara, joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss the exciting work he did during his PhD to unravel a fascinating topic: multicellular magnetotactic microbes!
05
Podcast episode
Dr. Volland was invited by K.M.O. on Padverb Podcast to record an episode in which we talked about my career path, and our recent paper on giant bacteria Thiomargarita magnifica. We also talked about symbiosis, cooperation, and competition. Here is the link to the podacst.
04
Plants in space
Dr. Volland & Dr. Elisabeth performed 3D microscopy analyses of plant samples from the International Space Station for the educational programs ExoLab9 and ExoLab10 managed by Magnitude.io whose mission is "to cultivate generations of brilliant scientists, engineers, and leaders through stellar STEM experiences igniting curiosity, inquiry, and ingenuity."
03
Berkeley Lab K-12
This program aim is "to connect Berkeley Lab experts with students around the Bay Area to Excite them about the world of STEM, help them Explore STEM careers, and give them the Experience to pursue STEM in college and beyond." See my participation here ---->
02
On the hunt for giant microbes
I wrote an article on the social journalism platform medium.com. This is a short story of how my wife, my daughter and I, armed with two microscopes, took an RV and went hunting for giant microbes along the California coast. We also made a short movie of our trip here.
01
Bay Area Science Festival
I participated to the Discovery Days at Oracle Park in San Francisco. We had a stereomicroscope set up and guided young scientists in the making to help them discover the beautiful and sometimes weird bugs living in the marine environment. In a second event, we offered children and adults to discover marine plankton using augmented reality, virtual reality and a card game..
