Welcome! We value the contributions of each person and respect the profound ways that identity, culture, background, experience, status, abilities, and opinion enrich the university community. We commit ourselves to the pursuit of excellence in teaching, research, outreach, and diversity as inextricably linked goals.
The Department of Bacteriology fulfills its public mission by creating a welcoming and inclusive community for people from every perspective – people who as students, faculty, and staff serve Wisconsin and the world.
Recent News & Upcoming Events
Join Us: MSB Informal Summer Luncheon
When: Tuesday, June 13 @ 12 PM Where: MSB Atrium (2nd floor) What Else: Bring a dish to share and/or bring your own lunch. BYO plate/cutlery. Beverages will be provided by the Department of Bacteriology. …
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Department Kudos
Kudos to Kari Straus, BacT Department Manager!
Terra Theim, coordinator of the Microbiology Doctoral Training Program, would like to share many thanks to Kari for always being a phenomenal administrative resource! No matter what the problem is, Kari finds a way to …
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Submit your kudos HERE!
What are we currently working on?
Explore our website to learn more about our ongoing and planned initiatives, including:
- Developing and distributing a quarterly intradepartmental newsletter to promote inclusion
- Ensuring a diversity of speakers in our weekly Distinguished Lectures in Microbiology seminar series
- Inviting at least one diversity researcher to present during our annual Kenneth B. Raper Symposium
- Reviewing and updating departmental policies to address systemic forms of injustice
- Tracking the demographic composition of the Department, and celebrating “Who We Are“
- Administering an annual department-wide climate survey, and summarizing/communicating results
- Improving DEI elements in both undergraduate- and graduate-level Bacteriology courses
- Highlighting Microbiologists We Admire
- Hosting more social, science discussion, and training events such as department-facilitated Go Big Read book clubs
- Promoting health by developing and displaying quarterly wellness education posters in all department restrooms
- Implementing a department kudos system
- Redesigning our website and regularly updating its content, including information regarding current (and planned) initiatives and their impacts on our community
If you have any questions, ideas, or concerns about diversity, equity, or inclusion in the department, feel free to reach out to us at diversity@bact.wisc.edu. We will do our best to get back to you within 48 hours.
If you prefer providing anonymous feedback and comments, please use THIS FORM.
The University of Wisconsin–Madison occupies ancestral Ho-Chunk land, a place their nation has called Teejop (day-JOPE) since time immemorial. In an 1832 treaty, the Ho-Chunk were forced to cede this territory. Decades of ethnic cleansing followed when both the federal and state government repeatedly, but unsuccessfully, sought to forcibly remove the Ho-Chunk from Wisconsin. This history of colonization informs our shared future of collaboration and innovation. Today, UW–Madison respects the inherent sovereignty of the Ho-Chunk Nation, along with the eleven other First Nations of Wisconsin.