Dave W. Recovering X-phile

Unfortunately no darker green that I've found.

Time for the #BestEverAgarArt event. Stop by Schrenk Hall 128 on Tuesday, March 10, between 5 pm and 7 pm to create a living masterpiece.

What is #AgarArt? Painting with colorful, pigmented bacteria or with bioluminescent bacteria or both!

Check out earlier events

sites.mst.edu/djwesten/aga...

It's March! Time to get your GREEN on! #MissouriSandT #GIANTmicrobes #BestEverStPats

Big win for #Miners_WBB as they sweep Drury! #MinerSports.

Busy week of #Outreach activities at #MissouriS&T . Two sessions of #InfectionConnection with middle school students for #EngineeringDay on Thursday and #SyntheticBiology activities with nearly 60 #PreCollegeInitiative students on Friday. Good fun with great discussions.

It's #ScienceOlympiad time at Missouri S&T Good luck to all the teams and, most important, have fun!

Took advantage of a lovely day to take the microbiology students outside to do cellular respiration. Didn't take photos today but here is a photo from a previous year and a video of them in action. (Thankful students put up with me :-)

youtu.be/ozFZN_kb4uQ

Bonus video youtu.be/J0OilT7Mq48

The calm before the storm. It's #CareerFair day at Missouri S&T. #HireMiners!

Lovely day at @mobotgarden.bsky.social checking out the #Orchid exhibit and strolling the grounds.

Happy Valentine's Day. Say it with Microbes! :-) 🦠😆

Photoshop :-). Seriously, I move them to room temp after 24 hours and wait a week for some of the colors to fully mature before I take photos. I have a set up with a ring light and black lights and use my phone. I do a little touching up with Photoshop if I have time.

All strains of E. coli initially developed by an iGEM team. Each with a different chromoprotein plasmid. I bought mine from Addgene. A bit pricey but worth it. I've gotten a lot of use out of them over the past few years. sites.mst.edu/djwesten/aga... Working on a public event in a couple months.

Fun GIFs with some of the #AgarArt with fluorescent features. #MissouriS&T #MissouriS&TBiology

Beautiful #AgarArt by #BioSci3319 Microbiology students #MissouriS&T #MissouriS&TBiology

A fun week of #AgarArt activities at Missouri S&T almost 50 masterpieces from Microbiology lab students and PLTW teachers. Visit my website to check out more of their great work!
sites.mst.edu/djwesten/aga...
sites.mst.edu/djwesten/aga...

Streak plate challenge for SP2026 is in the books. Here are the top streak plates for BioSci 3319 (Microbiology Lab). All the students have now selected their favorite colonies and prepared pure culture of their new lab "pet". We'll see how well they do keeping their pets alive for the semester.

Friends and Colleagues it's time for Miner Sports Faculty-Staff Appreciation Day. Come on over to #GibsonArena to cheer on #MinerWomen'sBasketball and Miner Men's Basketball as they take on Quincy. Women at 1 pm, Men at 3 pm. #GoMiners! #MissouriS&T

Missouri S&T Biology well represented by our awesome student organizations for SpringORama Missouri S&T Missouri S&T College of Arts, Sciences, and Education

The tradition continues. 66 laps around the track to celebrate 66 laps around the sun. Not running anymore so took almost 2 hours but I made it. A bit late waiting for them to finish resurfacing the indoor track. Looks great and love the new rec center floor. #OldFartsWalking

Hi. My name is Dave and I have a boba problem. The tapioca pearl withdrawal is kicking in.

To avoid the crowds we got our ice cream from Miyahara's other store just down the road in a renovated credit union building.

One other "must do" in Taichung is Miyahara. A former eye hospital now a restaurant, ice cream parlor, and cakes/cookies/tea emporium. For all the times we've been there this was the first time we've visited the restaurant.

I do an anonymous Mentimeter poll asking how they are doing and generate a word cloud. As we talk about the results I remind them of campus resources if they need support.

I also do a sideshow before each class with announcements and reminders of resources.

Since Covid I've had a similar statement. It started as learning during a pandemic that I borrowed and modified from someone on Twitter. Recently I modified it to learning during challenging times. I do bi-weekly check ins and remind them of resources.

No visit to Taichung is complete without a visit to the origin of #BubbleTea.

Visited a couple local temples to kick off the new month on the lunar calendar.

I love visiting the local culture park which is in an old "winery". Every visit there are new and fascinating exhibits such as this year's Maydayland but also local flower shows, historical exhibits, artisans showing their crafts, etc.

Cool sunset as we strolled the local night market.

Look what they've done to my #85CBakeryCafe! Thank goodness the donuts are delicious and they still carry delightfully creative pastries. Of course "regular" cafes still exist as well.

Had another great visit to Mingdao High School. A nice opportunity to meet students and faculty, talk about the exciting things happening at MissouriSandT, mstigem, and a few projects in my lab. Thoughtful questions from the students and wonderful conversation.