A poster by Gabriel Juarez, postdoctoral associate in Professor Roman Stocker‘s Environmental Microfluidics Group, won first prize in the MIT “Postdocs Share Their Science” event held June 18 in Morss Hall. Juarez’s poster, “Biophysics of Microbial Oil Degradation,” which Stocker describes as “elegant and insightful” was selected from 44 entries, netting Juarez a new iPad. The abstract said: “Many species of oil-degrading bacteria are equipped with flagella that enable the cells to swim and actively pursue nutrient gradients in their local surroundings. We are interested in understanding the role of motility on the encounter rate and attachment dynamics of microbes with oil droplets. We are investigating the swimming behavior and attachment dynamics at the microbe level using dedicated microfluidic devices and observing with phase contrast and epifluorescent microscopy.”