Educational Opportunities

The Department of Microbiology and Immunology provides learning opportunities beyond academic and technical content. Throughout the year, we provide seminars, workshops, and trainings that address how we perform and advocate for science in our labs, department, community, and world.

Educational Training

The Office of Health Parity at the Carver College of Medicine provides diversity educational programming and training on several topics including:

Implicit Bias
Bystander to Upstander training
Cultural Competence and Culturally Responsive Care
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) training
Fair Search and Hire Practices

Please contact the departmental office if you would like to participate in or organize an education training on the subject.

Interested in Volunteering

Get ready to have fun!

Contact the Director

Community Outreach and Enrichment events & activities listing

July - Volunteered with local organization Houses into Homes to provide furniture houseware for people exiting homelessness, domestic abuse, and crisis situation.

July - Reaching out to Iowa First Nations Summer Camp

August - School Supply Drive with Big Brothers Big Sisiters

October - Director of Community Outreach and Enrichment, Theresa Ho, PhD and Graduate Student Andrea Sanchez-Pena along with others from UIowa presenting at the national SACNAS (Society for the Advancement of Chicano/Hispanics & Native Americans in Science) meeting in Puerto Rico

Summer 2022 REU Students presenting at ABCRMS (Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minoritzed Scientists) and 2022 REU Student Micala Hammond won a Poster Presentation Award with 2022 REU Student Ricardo Espinoza Hernandez presenting at ABCRMS

November 2022 Undergraduate, graduate students, medical students, staff scientists, and faculty volunteering to teach 120 seventh graders about microbes in and around us at the Kirkwood Workplace Learning Event.

February 2023 Microbiology Graduate students took time to share their experiences with undergraduates at the IINSPIRE/LSAMP regional meeting

March Madness Microbes

March 2023 - Microbiology graduate student perform lab activities with Seniors from Oelwein High School and talked about microbial friends and foes with 45 - 6th, 7th and 8th graders and their parents at Kids Go STEM!

April 2023 - Microbiology students organized lab activities with students at the Lincoln Elementary STEAM fair

May 2023 - Held Cinco de Mayo celebration and had an end crocheting microbes for end of the year Spring 2023 semester.

July 2023 - Lab Olympics with Iowa First Nations Camp students

September 17, 2023 - International Microorganism Day!

January 15-23th MLK and Human Rights Week (Spotlighted campus events)

March Madness Microbes

April 12th Dr. Joe Graves is one of the featured speakers of this year's Iowa City Darwin Day Science Fest. He will be giving the talk “Race, Health, and the Built Microbiome” (Spotlighted Event)

Summer - Community Microbes Crochet events

Summer - Iowa First Nations Summer Camp

June 15th - Pride Parade - Kid Table Activity

July - Grandparents University

July - Held a Belin-Blank summer science camp students to learn about Vibrio and microbiology with Microbiology graduate students

August - School Supply Drive

August 18th - Governor's STEAM Day

September 15th - International Microorganism Day

Past Event Highlights

Human Rights Week

To celebrate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s legacy of Human Rights, the Department of Microbiology and Immunology organizes daily departmental and College of Medicine-wide discussions during the week of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr Day.