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Marissa Malleck, a sophomore in MSU’s Department of Microbiology, Genetics, & Immunology, has been awarded the 2022-23 Spartan Volunteer Service Award. The award, presented by the MSU President and the Center for Community Engaged Learning, recognizes students who participate in more than 100 hours of verified community-engaged learning or volunteering in a year. Malleck volunteered for almost 820 hours last year, making her the student with the second-highest number of hours in the university.

In a commentary published in the journal Cell, a group of 24 transgender (and/or family members of transgender) scientists describe what it’s like to be a transgender person in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine, or STEMM. One of the co-authors is Maeve McLaughlin. McLaughlin is a postdoctoral researcher in MSU’s Department of Microbiology, Genetics, & Immunology.

Microbes are vital to maintaining healthy, fertile soil, which, in turn, is vital to the overall health of ecosystems. But what happens to these microbes when humans cause long-term damage to the environment?Michigan State University researchers have provided new answers to that question by analyzing soil microbes near a mine fire that’s been burning for more than 60 years.

Ask someone what they think of when they hear the phrase “bile acids,” and you might get a few unpleasant answers.  Ask Robert Quinn, assistant professor in Michigan State University’s Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology housed in the College of Natural Science, and you’ll kickstart a conversation about some of the most versatile and crucial actors in the human gut.