microBEnet: Lessons Learned from Building an Interdisciplinary Scientific Community in the Online Sphere

Community Page microBEnet: Lessons Learned from Building an Interdisciplinary Scientific Community in the Online Sphere Holly M. Bik 1 , David A. Coil 1 , Jonathan A. Eisen 2,3 * 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, 3 Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, University of California, Davis, California, United States of America Overview of the Microbiology of the Built Environment Network (microBEnet) The microbiology of the Built Environ- ment network (microBEnet: http://www. microbe.net/) was formed as an experi- ment in interdisciplinary community building, with an overarching goal to facilitate and nurture the development of a new research field: the microbiology of the built environment (MBE). The field of MBE research was conceived based on the reasoning that modern humans spend most of their time indoors (where they come into contact with countless microor- ganisms), yet we know relatively little about the microbes and microbial ecosys- tems that exist within buildings. The microBEnet project began in 2010 and was funded as one of the keystone initiatives in the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation’s program in Micro- biology of the Built Environment (http://www.sloan.org/major-program- areas/basic-research/mobe/). The first phase of microBEnet represented a close, crossdisciplinary collaboration between the Eisen laboratory at the University of California (UC), Davis (microbiology and genomics research), and Hal Levin at the Building Ecology Research Group in Santa Cruz, California (building science). In the first three years of the project, microBEnet focused on four categories of activities in order to facil- itate work in the MBE field and to build a culture of openness and sharing: 1. Organizing meetings and workshops 2. Creating, curating, and sharing online resources and information 3. Enabling and educating network par- ticipants about more ‘‘open’’ activities in the field 4. Leveraging social media to encourage communication and collaboration These activities have targeted audiences in three main categories: 1. Researchers funded as part of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation’s MBE program 2. Other researchers working in the MBE program, or related fields, who could gain benefits or make valuable contri- butions 3. ‘‘Stakeholders’’ such as the general public and funding agencies who make decisions that should both be influ- enced by and influence our under- standing of the MBE The microBEnet project has served as a new breed of forward-looking research coordination network (akin to initiatives funded through government agencies such as the National Science Foundation). Many network activities have been exper- imental in nature, leveraging new tools and technology to foster interdisciplinary interactions (see Box 1). In terms of goals, we strived to be nimble and dynamic during the first 3 years of the project. Online networks and the study of the MBE itself were both considered ‘‘un- charted territory’’, and microBEnet was tasked with responding to community needs and suggestions. In this commen- tary, we discuss some of the lessons we have learned so far from microBEnet, with a view to facilitating the development of similar initiatives in other fields. We particularly focus on the role of open science activities in relation to community building efforts, public outreach and research-driven teaching projects, and the benefits and challenges of interdisci- plinary interactions. Being, Building, and Teaching ‘‘Openness’’ In addition to the creation of a new research field, a parallel overall goal of microBEnet is to help lead the MBE field to be a broadly open, sharing community. The importance of ‘‘openness’’ and edu- cating others on how to conduct open science, has been a central theme for much of our project. This includes both creating and curating open content and building an open social media network where anyone is welcome. Although openness is not necessary and sufficient to catalyze the creation of a new research field such as the MBE, we have chosen to emphasize this concept while building microBEnet because of the potential for Citation: Bik HM, Coil DA, Eisen JA (2014) microBEnet: Lessons Learned from Building an Interdisciplinary Scientific Community in the Online Sphere. PLoS Biol 12(6): e1001884. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1001884 Published June 17, 2014 Copyright: ! 2014 Bik et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. 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. Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. The Community Page is a forum for organizations and societies to highlight their efforts to enhance the dissemination and value of scientific knowledge. Abbreviations: ISS, International Space Station; MBE, microbiology of the built environment; MERCCURI, Microbial Ecology Research Combining Citizen and University Researchers on ISS; microBEnet, microbiology of the Built Environment network; UC, University of California. * E-mail: jaeisen@ucdavis.edu PLOS Biology | www.plosbiology.org June 2014 | Volume 12 | Issue 6 | e1001884