Quantal Bioscience’s mission is to do good BIG things with tiny microbes. The Zoo of Poo (ZoP) is Quantal’s pioneering school citizen science program bringing the latest methods and approaches in microbial ecology into the hands of school students. Just over one year into the program, more than 200 students have sequenced more than fifty faecal microbiomes for a dozen different hindgut-fermenting herbivore species, from capybaras and cassowaries to wombats and zebras. Ever wondered what the faecal microbiome of a black-footed tree rat looks like? We think we’ve got the very first one ever done! The methods and approaches in microbial ecology that ZoP brings to our next generation of bioscientists includes 16S rRNA gene sequencing using nanopore technology, phylogenetic analysis, and construction of and dietary experimentation with laboratory-based microcosms that model the hindgut microbiome. In August 2024 we held our inaugural research conference, ZoPCON24, with more than 70 in-person attendees including students, teachers, parents and zookeepers, and more than 100 students and teachers joining from around Australia, including remote communities. With data from the program regularly shared between students and zookeepers, and with both encouraged and trained to use the data to formulate, test and answer research questions in hindgut ecology, the Zoo of Poo is both increasing awareness of the importance of microbial ecology and democratising access to latest generation microbiomics and bioinformatics for schools and zoo communities. To quote one of the program’s pioneering teachers; “before they know it…they’re staring down a Sankey plot for the first time in their lives…and it means something to them because on that first day, they met with zookeepers who love and care for these animals… and suddenly a Sankey plot isn’t so alienating, it’s a tool, a snapshot into a way to help these animals”. The mission continues :-)!