In environmental science, we are currently learning about microbiology. We learned about how microbes affect humans, and the relationships between them and all living and non living things. We discussed the different types of microbes, which can be good, bad, or neutral towards your body functions and health. Last week, we swabbed a surface of our choice. I chose my phone, because I hardly clean my phone and I was interested to find out what the growth of the bacteria would look like. We put our swabs on an agar plate and let them grow. Mine grew into small dots, and judging by my research it is a type of bacteria that lives on the skin, but is mostly harmless.
I think Staphylococcus epidermidis is growing on my plate. This link directed me towards finding this bacteria, because they grew their own bacteria on agar plates from both their fingers and their phones, and this was a common microbe. On this link, it explains that Staphylococcus epidermidis grows on mostly human skin, but only causes problems if there is something wrong with your immune system, or other weak factors of your health.