We are pleased to hear that a video based on the mBio article “Contrasting Life Strategies of Viruses that Infect Photo- and Heterotrophic Bacteria, as Revealed by Viral Tagging” (Li Deng, Ann Gregory, Suzan Yilmaz, Bonnie T. Poulos, Philip Hugenholtz, and Matthew B. Sullivan) has been selected as one of ten Ocean 180 Video Challenge finalists!
Innocence by Viral Tagging, by Ann Gregory and J. Cesar Ignacio Espinoza, introduces a new method called viral tagging which allows scientists to examine interactions between natural unculturable viruses and a single bacterial host.
The top 10 video abstracts are now being reviewed by over 42,000 middle school students from all 50 US states and 13 countries.
With new technology making it easier to create videos, video abstracts are moving to the forefront as a way to bring science to the public. The Ocean 180 Video Challenge was designed to inspire scientists to communicate the meaning and significance of scientific research with a broader audience.
Matthew Sullivan, the Principal Investigator of the Sullivan Lab at the University of Arizona, gives credit to Ann Gregory and Julio Espinoza who thought the competition would be a great opportunity to share their research with a broader audience. Because microbes are usually negatively portrayed in the media, Gregory and Espinoza felt that the courtroom concept was an opportunity to highlight microbes in a fun light. Plus Gregory said “everybody loves a crime story.”
The Ocean 180 video challenge is sponsored by the Florida Center for Ocean Science Education Excellence (COSEE Florida) and funded through a grant from the National Science Foundation. For additional questions about this project, please contact Mallory Watson.
Congratulations to the authors on this accomplishment and good luck!