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 Biotechnology Institute News Digest
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:
Education Conference Applications Now Being Accepted The Biotechnology Institute’s 2007 Conference on Biotechnology Education, which will be held in Boston, May 3-6, integrates the Institute’s core programs into a unique national conference that offers professional development sessions for teachers focused on best practices and linked to education and skill standards. For students and early career scientists, the conference offers a minority mentorship program and a research competition, both of which introduce them to the biotechnology industry. Highlights of this year’s conference include an opening dinner for teacher-leaders May 3 at the Museum of Science sponsored by Genzyme. Minority Fellows will be hosted at the Whitehead Institute by one of its founders, Harvey Lodish, and will also meet with leading industrial researchers and present their research activities to them in an intimate “Conversations with Scientists.” To attend the conference, qualified teachers, students, postdoctoral fellows, and early career scientists may apply through one of the Institute’s core programs. Deadlines for the program applications are below.
For information about the programs and the Conference on Biotechnology Education, visit http://www.biotechinstitute.org/events/annualconference/annual_conference.html Supporting Evolution Education The Institute’s board of directors passed a position statement strongly condemning the teaching ofcreationism and its variantsin public science classrooms because it compromises the quality of US public science education, stifling scientific innovation and thus undermining our economic well-being. The Institute is conducting a vigorous outreach campaign to share this important message. Media outreach has included several opinion-editorial articles written by Paul Hanle, president of the Institute, in leading newspapers around the country. A new section on the Institute website includes the position statement, links to news articles, outreach materials, and links to resources for teaching evolution. For information, visit http://www.biotechinstitute.org/teaching%5Fevolution/. US Department of Education Awards Grant to Institute The Institute has received a three-year grant of $824,660 from the U.S. Department of Education’s Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) program. The grant will support the Institute’s “Operation Biotechnology,” a teacher training program that reflects real-world science applications and provides teachers with compelling content, cutting-edge science, and inquiry-based, career-oriented learning to integrate into their existing biology, chemistry and physics courses. Using an easily replicable “teacher/leader” model, teachers trained through Operation Biotechnology will disseminate programs and labs to their colleagues around the nation. Over three years, Operation Biotechnology will train 1,385 teachers and impact more than 34,625 students. Minority Fellows Program Reaches Out Irelene Ricks, the Institute’s director of biotech talent, has been actively promoting the Minority and Indigenous Fellows Program. The mentoring program pairs undergraduate, graduate, and post-doctoral students and faculty from underserved populations at colleges and universities with industry Mentors who introduce the participants to biotechnology. Ricks exhibited October 19 at the National Institutes of Health Job Fair for NIH Postdoctoral, Research, and Clinical Fellows at the Natcher Conference Center in Bethesda, MD. She also exhibited October 25-29 at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) in Tampa, FL, and at the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS) in Anaheim, CA, from November 7-12. During the SACNAS meeting, the Institute co-hosted with SACNAS a full-day “Minority Leadership Training and Career Development” program. Designed to train underrepresented PhD students, postdocs, and early career scientists in areas of creative leadership and career management, this event was underwritten by the Institute, SACNAS, Burroughs Wellcome Fund, and Genentech. The application deadline for the 2007 Minority and Indigenous Fellows Program is December 1. For information, visit http://www.biotechinstitute.org/programs/minority_fellows_program.html. Illinois Legacy Program Expanding The BIO 2006 education legacy program in Illinois continues to expand rapidly. In September the Illinois Biotechnology Industry Organization (iBIO) created a new not-for-profit educational organization called the iBIO Institute. This new organization will begin working closely with the Institute to manage and implement the wide-range of initiatives for the BIO 2006 education legacy program. With new awards from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and iBIO, the BIO 2006 education legacy program will launch this fall and winter a statewide version the Institute’s successful Minority and Indigenous Fellows Program. The Legacy program will also develop a national communications and public outreach plan and organize in the winter a public forum to bring together key stakeholders to celebrate the program’s successes and to plan for future efforts. The teacher professional development work, student competitions and curriculum development for the legacy program have now been bolstered by U.S. Department of Education grant. See above article.
Your World Issue Focuses on Biofuels The Institute has released the Fall 2006 online issue of Your World: Biotechnology & You, the educational biotechnology magazine for 7th-12th grade students. The issue, which focuses on biofuels, helps students explore the technology, science, and the growing career opportunities in this emerging field. The magazine, which is published twice a year, is a curriculum supplement for teachers who want to bring biotechnology to life in the classroom. Each issue of the full-color magazine combines balanced, in-depth information on a single biotechnology topic by looking at the science of biotechnology 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. The full version of the issue can be downloaded for free at http://www.biotechinstitute.org/resources/your_world_magazine.html. Webcast Encourages Minority Participation in Biotechnology The Institute on Nov. 2 joined the National Association for Blacks in Bio (NABB) on BioLive, the webcasting service of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO). Participants included Chad Womack, president and executive director, NABB; Paul Hanle, president, Biotechnology Institute; and Irelene Ricks, director, biotech talent, Biotechnology Institute. They discussed ways that BIO members can become more involved in encouraging minority participation in the biotechnology industry. The organizations stated that including individuals from a variety of backgrounds provides the industry access to the brightest and most talented people, leading to creative thinking that is vital to scientific innovation and to serving a multifaceted, global marketplace. To view the webcast, see http://www.biotechinstitute.org/programs/minority_fellows_program.html Institute People in the News Teacher-Leader Charlotte Mulvihill, biology and biotechnology professor at Oklahoma City Community College (OCCC), received the Biotechnology Teacher of the Year Award from the National Association of Biology Teachers (NABT). She was recognized at NABT's annual conference, held Oct. 11-14 in Albuquerque, NM. NABT has more than 9,000 members who “share experiences and expertise with colleagues from around the globe; keep up with trends and developments in the field; and grow professionally.” Mulvihill is OCCC's biotechnology program director. Teacher-Leader Gabriel Ayyavoo of Francis Libermann Catholic High School in Scarborough, Ontario, recently received the BIOTECanada-Biogen Idec Teaching Excellence Award. The award is dedicated to promoting and recognizing teaching of biotechnology at the secondary school level in Canada. It includes three annual cash awards, one for $5,000 and two for $2,500 each, to be divided equally between the winning teacher and his/her school. Ayyavoo was the third-place recipient. In partnership with the Canadian Biotechnology Education Resource Centre, the award program was launched in September 2005 during National Biotechnology Week. Teacher-Leader Michael Garrett of Grayson High School in Grayson, GA, was mentioned in an Oct. 12 article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The article highlighted the plant cloning lab work Garrett does with his students in the high school’s biotechnology class. The class is part of a technology program at Grayson High School that requires the students to spend half their day at the school and the other half at their neighborhood schools. Biotechnology Education News Headlines Below is recent biotechnology education news. See more news at http://www.biotechinstitute.org/news/. Students Gain an Advantage By Getting Biotech Work Experience. Hands-on training is not a requisite for college graduates to get a job in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry. Fewer than one-third of the resumes that local recruiters receive include the one year of industry experience the employers prefer. But more so than in other industries, novices can cause costly mistakes in drug making, especially in biotech manufacturing. That has spurred local drug makers, state officials and educators to find more ways for students to get on-the-job training. (Durham News & Observer, 11/5/06.) Publishers Launch Online Access to Research in the Environment. United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Yale University, and leading science and technology publishers on Thursday launched a collaborative initiative to make global research in the environmental sciences available online to scientists, researchers, and policy makers in the developing world for free or at nominal cost. Through Online Access to Research in the Environment (OARE), more than 200 prestigious publishers, societies and associations will offer one of the world's largest collections of scholarly, peer-reviewed environmental science journals to over 1,200 public and non-profit environmental institutions in more than 100 developing nations of Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Eastern Europe. Over 1,000 scholarly journal titles in such fields as biotechnology, botany, climate change, ecology, energy, environmental chemistry, and zoology will be provided through a portal presented in English, Spanish and French. (The Hindu, 11/3/06.) Biotech's Beef with University Education. In recent months biotech outfits have begun to complain that job applicants coming out of U.S. universities lack the know-how companies seek. Left unresolved, the troubles could stifle growth in this booming sector, valued at $48 billion last year by consultant Ernst and Young. The knowledge deficiencies could also force biotech companies to move more of their operations overseas, say executives and recruiters. (Business Week, 10/30/06.) 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. To submit your event, go to http://www.biotechinstitute.org/news/intake.html. AGU Fall Meeting Session If you enjoy the News Digest, please forward a copy to friends and colleagues. To unsubscribe from this mailing, please send an email to communications@biotechinstitute.org with the subject line “unsubscribe.” For more about the News Digest and to sign up for a free subscription, visit http://www.biotechinstitute.org/news/news_dig.html. If you enjoy the News Digest, please forward a copy to friends and colleagues. 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