Zoo in You Traveling Exhibition

Thanks to a generous grant from the National Institutes of Health’s Science Education Partnership Award (NIH-SEPA), the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) in partnership with the JCVI, developed the Zoo in You: The Human Microbiome – a 2,000 square foot bilingual (English and Spanish) traveling exhibition that engages visitors in the cutting edge research of the NIH Human Microbiome Project and explores the impact of the microbiome on human health.

The exhibit features 15 interactive components, which are organized by three topic areas: "Meet the Microbes," "Balanced Ecosystems," and "Exploring the Microbiome." JCVI scientists, including Drs. Hernan Lorenzi and Karen Nelson, advised on the science behind the exhibit and helped translate it into Spanish.

In January 2016, the JCVI partnered with the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center to bring the exhibit to San Diego, CA through May 8, 2016. As part of its efforts to engage the San Diego community with the exhibit and its exciting science concepts, the JCVI Education Program worked with the Fleet to host their Saturday Science Club for Girls in February 2016. A JCVI scientist led 20 girls in grades 5–8 through hands-on lessons about microbes and DNA sequencing.

Explore the Exhibit Online

The exhibit is supported by a robust webpage that introduces visitors to the microbes inhabiting our bodies. The webpage includes educational resources developed in collaboration with JCVI scientists. These lessons can be used in the classroom to help students learn about DNA, microbes, and the human microbiome. Educators can support the lessons with other materials from the webpage, including videos of JCVI scientists discussing the research that the Institute is doing on the microbiome.

Funding

Funding for this project provided by a Science Education Partnership Award (NIH-SEPA) through the National Institutes of Health.