Biotechnology Institute News Digest
July/August 2006
The News Digest looks at the world of biotechnology education, with Institute news, links to recent articles and a schedule of upcoming events. The News Digest is published by the Biotechnology Institute, the national organization dedicated to biotechnology education.
In this issue:
- Partnering with West Chester University’s 3E Institute
- BioAware Conference in Winnipeg
- Reaching Out to Southern California
- Joining Forces with Virginia Biology Teachers
- Biotech Education Catching Fire in Chicago and Illinois
- Your World Magazine Online
- Funders in the News
- Institute People in the News
- Biotechnology Education News Headlines
- Events and Professional Development Sessions
Partnering with West Chester University’s 3E Institute
Teacher-Leaders Mark Temons (Muncy High School, Williamsport, PA), Suzanne Bachman (Philadelphia Electrical & Technical Charter High, Philadelphia, PA), and Mercedes Casablanca (Universidad Metropolitana, San Juan, PR), as well as Kathy Frame (Institute vice president for educational programs), will take the “Emerging Sciences and Technology” graduate course offered July 17-24 at West Chester University’s Institute for Educational Excellence and Entrepreneurship (3E Institute) in West Chester, PA. After taking the course, the team will recommend how to best incorporate biotechnology into the course and provide an action plan for its possible transition to an online course.
The 3E Institute, developed with support from the U.S. Department of Education’s Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education, fosters and supports entrepreneurial knowledge and skills in both pre-service and in-service K-16 educators through redesigned curriculum, innovative programs, mentoring experiences, and continuing education. It is partnering with the Biotechnology Institute to add strong biotech graduate course content to the solid 3E educational model already in place. The partnership is funded by a grant from Johnson and Johnson.
Institute President Paul Hanle was recently recognized by the 3E Institute with its Educator 500 Dean’s Award as one of the country’s outstanding “entrepreneurial educators.” See http://www.biotechinstitute.org/news/news_detail.php?news_id=33.
BioAware Conference in Winnipeg
The first BioAware Conference was held in Winnipeg, Manitoba, July 5-7, on the campus of Redwood College. The conference was modeled after the Institute’s Annual Conference on Biotechnology Education, which precedes the BIO International Convention. Participants toured state-of-the-art research facilities on molecular diagnostics and the Level 4 facility for pathogens. They also heard the latest on best practices in biotechnology being used in Canada and the US.
A roundtable discussion about the Institute’s programs was hosted by Kathy Frame, the Institute’s vice-president for educational programs; Kathryn Eilert, 2006 Genzyme-Invitrogen Biotech Educator first-place awardee; and Bob Adamson, 2005 Biotech Educator third-place awardee. The discussion primarily focused on the National Biotechnology Teacher-Leader Program and Genzyme-Invitrogen Biotech Educator Award.
Reaching Out to Southern California
Scott May, vice-president for systems and curriculum, attended CALBIO 2006, held May 18 in San Diego, to explore ways for the Institute to continue towork with the San Diegobiotechnology community. The conference is the annualmeeting of BIOCOM, the association for the life science industry in Southern California. The Institute will hold its annual Conference on Biotechnology Education in San Diego in 2008.A recent program held by the Biotechnology Institute in conjunction with BIOCOM was the"Workforce Development Conference 2005" held at the Burnham Institute in La Jolla, CA, in December. See http://www.biotechinstitute.org/programs/burnham.html.
Joining Forces with Virginia Biology Teachers
The Institute, in partnership with the Virginia Association of Biology Teachers, will host a two-day professional development session on the campus of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA, August 3-4. The event includes field trips to the Virginia Bioinformatics Center and its "Core Lab," which offers advanced lab instrumentation and super computational services and expertise. Other tours will be to the Virginia Tech veterinary school’s microscopy and tissue prep labs and the Virtual Reality Lab, or CAVE, where architects create molecules "virtually." Hands-on sessions will be on bioinformatics and yeast that have been genetically modified to be susceptible to UV light.
Biotechnology Education Catching Fire in Chicago and Illinois
During the BIO 2006 meeting in Chicago, a number of programs were launched to have a lasting impact on education in Illinois long after the BIO convention. These programs are being implemented and supported by a variety of organizations in the state. As part of the BIO 2006 Education Legacy Initiative the Biotechnology Institute will facilitate the creation of student competitions, minority leadership development programs, public sharing forums, and biotechnology education career pathways.
The Biotechnology Institute, with financial support from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, Loyola University Chicago’s Mathematics and Science Partnership and the Illinois State Board of Education, has provided extensive training to a cadre of teachers leaders from throughout the state and Chicago Public Schools (CPS). In August, in partnership with the Illinois Institute of Technology, the Institute will conduct a curriculum implementation workshop for a group of CPS biology teachers from seven high schools that are involved in the High School Transformation program underwritten by the Gates Foundation.
In May and June, joined by Institute vice presidents Kathy Frame, Educational Programs, and Scott May, Systems and Curriculum, Teacher-Leaders met with representatives from the biotechnology industry, the public sector and higher education to build a consensus on action steps that should be taken to improve biotechnology education throughout the state. These recommendations will be presented to senior government officials and business executives.
The BIO 2006 Education Legacy Initiative is part of the Institute’s Systems and Curriculum Initiative. For information, see http://www.biotechinstitute.org/programs/school_systems_initiative.html.
Your World Magazine Online
Your World: Biotechnology & You, the educational biotechnology magazine for 7th-12th grade students, is an excellent curriculum supplement for teachers who want to bring biotechnology to life in the classroom. All issues are available online for free. Each issue of the full-color magazine combines balanced, in-depth information on a single biotechnology topic and its practical applications in health care, agriculture, the environment, and industry. Issues also come with an online teacher’s guide that links to the National Science Education Standards and provides tips on how to use the magazine and additional labs and exercises.
For more information and to download any Your World issue, go to http://www.biotechinstitute.org/resources/your_world_magazine.html.
Funders in the News
A July 9 Boston Globe article highlighted the volunteer matching program of Genzyme Corp., the Cambridge, MA-based biotechnology company. Genzyme Invests in Volunteer Efforts (GIVE), a program in which the company matches fundraising and volunteer activities in employee-chosen charities, last year raised $280,000. Programs that have benefited from GIVE include Cambridge School Volunteers, a reading program at Fletcher-Maynard Elementary in Cambridge, and the Science Club for Girls program, an after-school program at Fletcher-Maynard that serves at-risk middle and high school girls by promoting interest in science. Genzyme is a cosponsor of the Institute’s Genzyme-Invitrogen Biotech Educator Award. For information about the award, see http://www.biotechinstitute.org/programs/biotecheducatoraward.html.
The Pocono Environmental Education Center in Dingmans Ferry, PA, has received a $15,000 grant from the sanofi pasteur facility in nearby Swiftwater. The funding will help support PEEC's year-round programs for local teachers, students, families and scouts. PEEC's mission is to enhance environmental awareness, knowledge and appreciation through hands-on experience in a natural outdoor classroom. Sanofi pasteur is the vaccines business of sanofi-aventis, the world’s third largest pharmaceutical company and a lead sponsor of the sanofi-aventis International BioGENEius Challenge, the Biotechnology’s Institute’s annual competition for high school students that recognizes outstanding research in biotechnology. See http://www.biotechinstitute.org/programs/biogeneius_challenge.html.
Institute People in the News
Xan Simonson, who directs Mesa High's Biotech Academy in Mesa, AZ, was quoted in a June 28 article in the Arizona Republic. The article was about a workshop at Mesa Community College aimed at improving science instruction in Arizona high schools. Simonson was a third-place recipient of the 2005 Genzyme-Invitrogen Biotech Educator Award. For more about the award, see http://www.biotechinstitute.org/programs/biotecheducatoraward.html.
Biotechnology Education News Headlines
Below is recent biotechnology education news. See more news at http://www.biotechinstitute.org/news/.
Program Puts Science Educators Back in the Labs
About 130 area science educators are spending their summer in a Lawrence Livermore Laboratory and UC Davis program aimed at giving them teaching ideas for when they return to their classrooms in the fall. The Teacher Research Academy, run by the lab and the university's School of Education, has teachers attending workshops at the Livermore lab and in Stockton, Davis or Fresno. The academy is geared to help teachers from middle school through community college. Participants can focus this year on biotechnology, biophotonics or astrophysics. (Contra Costa Times, 7/12/06)
Competitiveness Initiative Aims to Keep U.S. Ahead of Global Trends
Months after President Bush first announced his American Competitiveness Initiative, Congress is getting around to funding the program aimed to keep the United States in the forefront of innovation. The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and Science is expected to take up the spending plan on July 12. The House of Representatives has already approved a $6.5 billion bill for programs at the National Science Foundation and the National Institute of Standards and Technology that, in part, advance the ACI. (Fox News, 7/11/06.)
Genzyme Encourages Workers to Volunteer
Genzyme Corp., the Cambridge biotechnology company, last year formalized its company wide volunteer matching program, GIVE. GIVE stands for Genzyme Invests in Volunteer Efforts, in which the company matches fund-raising and volunteer activities in employee-chosen charities. Last year employees raised $140,000 for charities they selected, and Genzyme matched that to $280,000. The GIVE program targets volunteerism in the areas of health and science education. (Boston Globe, 7/9/06)
MichBio Announces Grand Rapids Student Life Science Career Day
MichBio, Michigan's life science trade association, announced the MichBio Student Life Science Career Day is October 10, 2006 in Grand Rapids. Grand Valley State University and the Van Andel Institute, in partnership with MichBio, will host the career day. This event is for high school students in the greater Grand Rapids area that are interested in pursuing a science career. The career day takes place on the first day of the 3-day MichBio Expo 2006 held on October 10, 11 and 12. (Red Orbit, 7/6/06)
Events and Professional Development Sessions
Below are upcoming biotechnology education events. See http://www.biotechinstitute.org/events/event_list.php for more events and information.
AGU Fall Meeting Session
NOAA's Office of Ocean Exploration is convening a preplanned session at the 2006 AGU Fall meeting focusing on “New Marine Resources: Recent Findings, Challenges and Future Directions.” The session will include presentations of recent discoveries of new marine resources, including but not limited to, marine natural products exhibiting bioactivity, potential for pharmaceuticals, marine biotechnology, food additives, or gas hydrates. Additionally, participants will address future opportunities for discoveries of new marine resources: identifying challenges, benefits, and directions. Deadline for online abstract submissions is September 7.
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