New Zealanders study microbiology and become microbiologists for many reasons:
 
Here are just a few a few:

• Because microbes are very important. Without them, Earth would quickly become a dead rock.
• Because they play a role in global warming.
• Because they are important to New Zealand.  For instance, all our cows and sheep would starve without them, but they are also attacking our crops, like kiwifruit, and kill our native Kauri trees unless microbiologists stop them. 
• Because they can cause terrible diseases but also help us cure them.
• Because it is exciting to be part of the discovery of new microbes in the strangest places… like the depth of the ocean or Mars. Some of these newly discovered microbes that can help us make  new antibacterial drugs, much needed as deadly bacteria become more resistant to our current arsenal of antibacterial drugs.

              ......not to forget the career prospects.

Click on the images for more information....... or explore stories from the world of microbes in our MICROBIOLOGY Flipboard magazine.

Next: Careers and jobs