Promoting antibiotic stewardship does not stop after work hours. Seda Özdikmenli Tepeli from Yenice Turkey surveyed the main problems during mastitis treatment in small dairy farms in 2012, a social project to analyze and educate how to prevent antibiotic resistance in small dairy farms. Seda then did a PhD about antibiotic resistance and currently aims to help mastitis treatment through research. Seda: “In the evenings, I attend seminars in villages promoting awareness of the appropriate use of antibiotics. Also, I am doing workshops for 7-17 year old students for awareness in my laboratory as a volunteer.”

This is one of the entries of the microbiology community’s storytelling contest ‘Building Impact Brick by Brick’. Microbiologists can create a positive impact on society – and it’s as simple as building with Lego©: brick by brick. A march for science that changes a country’s conditions for scientists, a local event that helps parents avoid misuse of antibiotics, a citizen science project providing insights you would never see from a clinical setting. Each initiative, each story, each brick helps create awareness, influence policy and develop the conditions to develop and promote our microbiological knowledge, now and for future generations.