microBEnet: lessons learned from building an interdisciplinary scientific community in the online sphere

Holly M Bik; David A Coil; Jonathan A Eisen

doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1001884

microBEnet: lessons learned from building an interdisciplinary scientific community in the online sphere

PLoS Biol. 2014 Jun 17;12(6):e1001884. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1001884. eCollection 2014 Jun.

Authors

Holly M Bik¹, David A Coil¹, Jonathan A Eisen²

Affiliations

¹ UC Davis Genome Center, University of California, Davis, California, United States of America.
² Department of Evolution and Ecology, University of California, Davis, California, United States of America; Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, University of California, Davis, California, United States of America.

Abstract

The Microbiology of the Built Environment Network (microBEnet) has served as an experiment in online community building. Here we discuss strategies used to launch a new, interdisciplinary scientific field, and their implications.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Community-Institutional Relations
Environment, Controlled
Interdisciplinary Communication*
Internet*
Microbiology*
Teaching

Grants and funding

The microbiology of the Built Environment network (microBEnet) project is funded by an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation grant to Jonathan Eisen at UC Davis. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.