CAS CONNECT 2016

Brewing Microbiology: What to Know Open to OSU students for credit or for free as a non- credit course to anyone with an internet connection. 100 percent online course • Students who take the course for credit will receive three credit hours of upper division science. There are no prerequisites, though high school or freshman level biology and chemistry is suggested. • Teaches the science behind microbrewing, convering topics such as microbiology of yeast, biology of grain, biochemistry in malted barley, chemistry of water, preservative nature of hops, and the human physiology of taste and smell. Inaugural course began in August 2016 and future offerings are in the works. For current information, visit: http://asoutreach. okstate.edu/students/online/brew 3 T yrrell Conway pulls on his lab coat and prepares to deliver a lecture. It would be an ordi- nary day for the professor and head of the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics at Oklahoma State University except that instead of inter- acting directly with college students, Conway is speaking to a camera lens. He is lecturing on the metabolism of yeast as part of the College of Arts & Sciences’ first Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) titled, “Brewing Microbiology.” This is new territory for the scientist and the college but the MOOC generated immediate interest as both a credit and non-credit offering. In fact, by making the class available in both formats, it allowed for an unusual makeup of students. “What I think is really interesting is when I hear a student is enrolled for credit and they’re taking it with their parent, who is enrolled in the open course,” Conway says. The idea to teach a course on the microbiology of microbrewing sprouted from two seeds: Conway’s growing inter- est in a rapidly growing industry and his department’s desire to build student credit hours. Noting there are “thousands of courses” that teach the how of brewing, Conway saw an opportunity to discuss why the process works. It proved to be an easy sell after meet- ing with Arts & Sciences Associate Dean for Outreach Bobbi Kay Lewis. She saw an opportunity to turn Conway’s idea for an online credit course into a MOOC. “I thought it sounded like a fascinating course,” she says. “It went from concep- tion to development very quickly after the initial discussion.” LOCAL TIES It does not hurt to have a popular local brewery on board with the production. Iron Monk Brewery Company, founded in 2014 by OSU alumni Dave Monks and Jerod Millirons, not only opened their doors for portions of the video shoot but also worked to promote the class. It just so happens Monks and Millirons share the professor’s passion for science. Monks earned his doctorate in molec- ular biology and Millirons graduated from OSU with a bachelor’s degree in biology before pursuing his MBA. The two met while teaching biology at North Central Oklahoma College in Stillwater and discovered their mutual love of home brewing. Now their product is being broken down to its most basic elements for a worldwide internet audience to witness. Their cooperation proved vital to the project. “We can’t offer this course without those guys,” Conway insists. Part of Iron Monk’s corporate ethic is to use grain from Oklahoma, which led Conway to make a connection with J.D. Drennen of 46 Grain Co. in Ames,