Year: 2025
Type: conference-paper
Abstract: Although often unnoticed, the environmental microbiota is closely linked to the health of both the human microbiota and its host. However, its role remains largely misunderstood, especially by non-experts and students. Moreover, collecting environmental microbiota samples (EMS) is time-consuming, requires multiple replicates, standardized metadata, and costly processing and sequencing. To address these challenges, we developed the Bicocca Sampling Days (BSDs), a four-day event, one day per each season, where students collected EMS across different urbanized areas in the Milano-Bicocca district. Every event started with a lecture and demonstration, continued with sampling and metadata collection with a free data collection, management, and visualization platform and ended with a survey to assess the educational impacts with customized and standard scales. To ensure the reproducibility of this workflow, we provided ready-to-use templates for sampling campaign design, metadata protocols, checklists, and evaluation tools. Over eight hours of fieldwork, 76 students collected 2,429 samples over 29,288.74 m2. Participants demonstrated significant gains in microbiome sampling knowledge and confidence in microbiome sampling, with the largest improvements in perceived competence. To support this model’s sustainability, we launched the crowdfunding campaign Fantastic Microbes and Where to Find Them to fund EMS sequencing, a free workshop on microbiome data analysis and writing, and public outreach activities that raised awareness and connected citizens with microbiome research. In conclusion, we offer a reproducible model that integrates microbiome with citizen science, research, and education, while contributing to real-world research and fostering scientific literacy among students and the broader public.
Authors: Armanni, A, Ghisleni, G, Fumagalli, S, Wood-Charlson, E, Dow, E, Scaccabarozzi, G, Aiesi, M, Mantegazza, G, Soletta, G, Colombo, L, Rosatelli, A, Franzetti, A, Casiraghi, M, Bruno A
Language: English
Subfield: Education
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: green
Funders: Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Università Degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emila, Università degli Studi di Milano, Università degli Studi di Siena, Università degli Studi di Cagliari, University of East Anglia, European Commission, University College Cork, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, Universität Wien, Università degli Studi di Padova, KU Leuven, Sapienza Università di Roma, Università degli Studi di Firenze, Università di Catania, Università degli Studi di Genova, Università degli Studi di Pavia, Università degli Studi di Parma, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Universita degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro, Università degli Studi dell'Insubria, Università degli Studi di Sassari, Università di Bologna, Universität Zürich, Università degli Studi di Torino, Università degli Studi di Salerno, Università di Pisa, Università degli Studi di Messina, Humanitas University, Università degli Studi della Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Università degli Studi di Urbino Carlo Bo, Università degli Studi della Basilicata, Sorbonne Université, Directorate for Biological Sciences, Institute of Genetics
Awards: G1016895160, G130521222, G1437123785, G1614537436, G2020244936, G2370974534, G2533793545, G2975803421, G3129896649, G3369296283, G3395476940, G3743349352, G4606107022, G4825500281, G4912270752, G5128070317, G56113743, G613453110, G6329824856, G7108126824, G7139811462, G7733520917, G8331982116, G8348146674, G8588169645, G972786147, G983673008
OpenAlex ID: W7112609693