A resident of Massachusetts, Alexander Cherkassky has been the senior director of product management, spatial tissue imaging, and mass cytometry at Fluidigm Inc. since 2018. As part of his professional development, Alexander Cherkassky is a member of many groups and organizations, including the American Society for Microbiology (ASM).
The American Society for Microbiology hosts an annual agar art competition as part of its public outreach. Agar art is art created in a petri dish with living microorganisms. Since 2015, ASM has encouraged artists and scientists alike to “paint” with bacteria, carefully handling microbes such as E. coli, staph, and salmonella to literally bring their visions to life.
In 2018, a category to feature agar art by kids was added. Children as young as 5 have placed and are featured on ASM’s website. Also in 2018, the main category was split into a professionals category and a makers category. Professionals include professional, graduate, and undergraduate bioartists as well as life scientists and students of the life sciences. All other adults submitting agar art fall into the makers category. First place for each category wins a $200 gift card and ASM credit or merchandise.
The 2020 agar art competition opens for submissions in September.
Alexander Cherkassky 