Advancing NTM research with citizen science

ABSTRACT Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) is a generic term for the >200 species of environmental mycobacteria . NTM are ubiquitous, but there is extensive variation in the distribution of individual species. In a recent article published in Applied and Environmental Microbiology , Wilsey et al. describe how community-based citizen science efforts helped map the distribution of NTM in Hawai’i (R. N. Wilsey, L.-H. Ding, S. N. Dawrs, C. K. Raulerson, et al., Appl Environ Microbiol 92:e00269-26, 2026, https://doi.org/10.1128/aem.00269-26 ). Mycobacterium chimaera , an opportunistic pathogen and the leading cause of NTM pulmonary disease in Hawai’i, was among the most common species isolated.