This year’s annual Kenneth A. Spencer Memorial Lecture at the University of Kansas will feature a professor who’s made a career out of inspiring people to better appreciate bacteria.

Architectural biologist Jessica Green will speak at 7 p.m. Feb. 8 at The Commons in Spooner Hall, 1340 Jayhawk Blvd., KU announced Thursday.

Green studies the role of microorganisms in the relationship between humans and built environments, according to KU. Her planned talk is titled “The Hidden City: Landscape, Urban Design, and the Microbial Universe.”

The event is free and open to the public. A second event featuring a conversation with Green about the Future University is planned for 10 a.m. Feb. 9 at The Commons.

Green is a professor of biology at the University of Oregon, a TED Senior Fellow and co-founder of Phylagen, a DNA data harvesting and analytics company, according to KU. She is also co-writing a graphic novel about the urban microbiome.

Green has degrees in civil/environmental engineering and nuclear engineering from the University of California, Berkeley.