From preteens to professors, from urban cities to rural areas, Wego_Taipei strove to spread awareness of issues related to eutrophication. Whether by in-person lectures or online campaigns, our team tried to take the initiative to educate the public. We aimed to diversify our media to reach a wider audience, as we believed everyone has an equally important role in environmental preservation. Our public opinion survey showed a significant improvement in the understanding of such topics after exposure to any one of the following:

Our main approach was giving hour-long presentations in our local community. While each lecture was tailor-made to suit different age groups, the focus revolved around eutrophication, our solution, and a call to action. We handed out poll postcards at the end of each class.

Tianmu Elementary School is a public school located in the district of Shilin in Taipei, Taiwan. We started with an introduction to synthetic biology, went into detail about the causes and impacts of eutrophication, and gave an overview of our engineered TripleP cell. We alternated between Mandarin and English to better convey the science behind our solution. Since we hoped to spark their interest in science-related fields of study, we ended the class with a group activity.

(Translation)
Q: What causes eutrophication? Please explain the process in detail.
A: An overabundance of phosphate accumulates in water bodies and causes rapid algae growth; algal bloom, in turn, decreases the oxygen concentration and kills organisms.

The international department of Wego Junior High provides bilingual education from seventh through ninth grade. We were able to go in-depth with an all-English presentation, building on previous knowledge the students had already learnt. A fair amount of time was spent explaining the names and functions of enzymes and proteins – such as AsPhoU, pNP, and E. coli, among many others. During the Q&A session, students voiced concerns ranging from the possibility of bacteria leakage to the ethicality of bioengineering. These were addressed to the team and we made changes accordingly.

As juniors and seniors, our members invited their respective homeroom classes and teachers to attend our final lecture. Looser time constraints and a higher level of education meant that each team (Wet Lab, Dry Lab, HP, Wiki) was able to thoroughly present its findings. Our peers expressed interest in gene engineering as well as joining iGEM in the upcoming year. They raised questions about whether the cost, feasibility, and effectiveness of our project could set our project apart from existing solutions. We, then, consulted professionals about product positioning.

Wego_Taipei firmly believes that education should have no boundaries. The “general public” encompasses people of all ages and backgrounds; socioeconomic status should play no part in education. To achieve this vision, we collaborated with a student-founded scientific educational group Science x Life to design a science-learning summer program for elementary school kids in rural Taiwan. Mei-ho Elementary School is a public school located in rural Taitung and has limited funding. By guiding students to perform experiments, teaching them about reactions in photosynthesis, and raising awareness to the local environmental issues, we aimed to remove barriers in STEM education resulting from economic inequality. Our goal was to inspire students to be curious about, develop a passion for, and keep pursuing science in the future.

At the end of the elementary and middle school lectures, we collected feedback by asking students to fill out the postcards we designed. Some made illustrations and others wrote down lingering questions. Many thanked us for giving an educational yet entertaining presentation. The postcard activity was crucial because it gave the audience a chance to express their thoughts, and it gave us space for improvement.

Under pandemic, reaching the community through social media is the most effective and optimal way for safety concerns. To reach a wider range of audience and raise public awareness, we regularly updated bilingual stories, posts, and reels on our instagram account . We posted trivial quizzes on a daily-basis which related to our project, facts about eutrophication, and basic knowledge of synthetic biology. By analyzing common misunderstandings shared by our followers, we created reels to specifically explain the causes, effects, and gravity of Eutrophication and further introduce our solution to mitigating the issue.

Moreover, our instagram posts have promoted a variety of scientific knowledge, including synthetic biology, backgrounds of notable scientists, and environment-related holidays. With colorful illustrations and interesting animation, we hope to make the concepts more accessible to the audience. Finally, with a deep comprehension of eutrophication, the public can also use their voice to save the devastated Earth.

Taipei Times is the leading English news outlet in Taiwan. We reached out with a letter emphasizing the direness and severity of eutrophication and detailing our proposed solution, and were fortunate enough to be accepted for publication. As it is Taiwan-based, all of the examples and statistics were specific to our homeland. With such a wide-reaching platform, we stressed the importance of taking action. Individual efforts such as buying phosphate-free detergents and supporting pesticide-free agriculture can amount to incredible changes.

Language is one of the biggest hindrances to education. It only made sense to broaden our target audience to include the local community. EutroinVitro started because of a desire to improve our immediate living conditions, and we wanted our actions to reflect that. The final draft is awaiting publication.