Education and Engagement
In
terms of our educational outreach, our team wanted to put an emphasis on connecting to
the
general public. Because this is a generational
issue concerning the greater population, we believed that it would be important to
teach the younger generation. To do this we partnered with a few of the local high
schools. These included Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science and Technology,
Riverwood International Charter High School, Lambert High School, and Tucker High
School. In collaboration with the Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science
and Technology’s (GSMST) Ecos club, we were able to present our topic to
their students and get some feedback concerning our topic. With Lambert High
School, we were not only able to present to their students, but we also
received feedback concerning our project topic and procedure as they are another
iGem team. Lastly, our collaborations with Riverwood High School and Tucker
High School are set to take place after the Wiki Freeze date. From these we plan
on being able to present our project ideas to the public and again
receive feedback concerning our topic.
In
addition to collaborating with local high schools, we also partnered with some
campus organ izations. These included the Georgia State University Environmental
Science Club, the Biobus, and the Science Outreach Initiative (SOI). Our collaboration with
these organizations allowed us to spread awareness about our project topic.
Synthetic Biology Club teaching workshop
We
created a teaching workshop for Georgia State University students to learn more about
synthetic biology. On select Fridays, we would teach and carry out experiments using a
synthetic biology approach to molecular biology. Informational sessions about how to get
involved in IGEM are taught to students. Students also would learn and practice techniques
like PCR, gel electrophoresis, transformation, midi preps, gel extractions,
restriction digests, and more. One of the most impactful moments during this workshop was
when Jiayi decided to join our upcoming iGEM team next year because she was so
interested and intrigued by the idea of synthetic biology and our current project she
wanted to continue to explore the possibilities of this field.
GSMT-ecos
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1CWseaS1aYUyEtt0lJkdZS0KDsNfoyT-LNv9Oj2xh8O8/edit
Lambert HS
Riverwood International Charter High
School
https://www.fultonschools.org/riverwoodhs
Tucker High School
https://www.tuckerhs.dekalb.k12.ga.us/
GSU environmental science club
Biobus
Science Outreach Initiative (SOI)