Janine E. Trempy, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Microbiology and the Associate Dean in the College of Science at Oregon State University. She has received numerous research and teaching awards from Oregon State University, and in 1996 she was named by the Carnegie Foundation/CASE as Oregon Professor of the Year for her development and use of innovative inquiry based cooperative learning environments. She was a Waksman/American Society for Microbiology Traveling Lecturer, presenting lectures focusing on science education reform. Her research focus is on bacterial crisis management systems, microbial applications (i.e. biosensor development; food safety) and developing inclusive learning environments that enhance science literacy. Nancy Trun is an Assistant Professor in the Dept of Biological Sciences at Duquesne University where she teaches undergraduate and graduate level microbial genetics. She has taught microbial genetics courses at the University of Maryland and at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and received the National Institutes of Health Director's Award for science education at the elementary school level. Currently, her research focus is on chromosome folding in bacteria.