Tiny Earth

By 2050, more people will die from antimicrobial resistance than cancer, yet pharmaceutical companies have largely abandoned antibiotic drug discovery due to high research costs and low profits compared to long-term medications. Our current arsenal of antibiotics cannot keep up with rapidly evolving microbes that cause disease. Tiny Earth was founded by Dr. Jo Handelsman in 2012 to address this crisis.

Microbes, like bacteria, naturally produce chemical compounds, some of which are antimicrobial. Soil is a rich source of these bacteria, and Tiny Earth’s global network of students and instructors aim to “student-source” antibiotics from soil bacteria.

The Tiny Earth Chemistry Hub (TECH) is an extension of Tiny Earth housed in the Handelsman Lab at the Wisconsin Institute at University of Wisconsin-Madison. Bacteria isolated by students in classrooms across the US are shared with TECH for further genetic, genomic, phenotypic, and chemical analyses.

As the TECH manager, I oversee the TECH strain collection and various research projects, mentor undergraduates, and lead the Tiny Earth Summer Research Course (TESRC). My research includes establishing methods and conducting DNA extractions for whole genome sequencing and screening bacterial strains against relatives of the World Heath Organization’s high-priority pathogens.

I build connections between TECH research and the larger Tiny Earth network of students and educators through committees, events, and research. Engaging with STEM students at TECH and in the Tiny Earth network has been a major highlight of my work.