Education and Public Engagement

Venturing Outside the Lab

Our team went beyond the lab and into the community to promote a public discussion concerning both iGEM and the field of synthetic biology. Our hope is to show that science is not solely for scientists, but rather, it is for anyone to learn about, engage in, and enjoy.

Library

UFlorida paired up with the Florida Museum of Natural History and participated in tabling events at the Alachua County Library Headquarters Branch. FMLH had a traveling frog exhibit that had been displayed at the local libraries over the course of the summer. The exhibit featured preserved amphibians, 3D printed models, activities/demonstrations concerning amphibian life cycle or osmosis mechanisms, and a multitude of amphibian related information. To add to the information pool, UFlorida set up posters about synthetic biology and the ubiquity of GMOs in everyday life. However, this was no academic poster session! When the display was set up on the children’s floor, our team brought along a few activities to do with the kids. To explain the function of DNA to a younger audience we organized a coloring activity. The goal was to decrypt a description of a monster by matching sets of codons to a letter key. After matching all of the codons to the letters, a phrase describing a monster would be completed. Then after decoding the monster description, the kids could draw their monsters using the description and their imaginations! The activity explained how sets of three nucleotides made up a codon, and then how series of codons created DNA sequences. In addition to the coloring activity, we set up an activity using pipe cleaners and beads to explain the structure of DNA. We explained the double helix of DNA was like twisting two pipe cleaners together. To represent the codons of DNA, the kids decorated their double helix strands with their favorite beads. The kids could spell their names with lettered beads or decorate the strand with their favorite colored beads. These activities were a fun and simple way to get the kids interested in biology. Although the target audience was young children, accompanying parents and older siblings also became active participants and a lot of questions were answered throughout the day.

Library Pictures!

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Museum

UFlorida also had several pop-up events at the museum itself. For several Saturdays, our team set up a table in the lobby of the museum that showcased the aims and experimental aspects of our project. At the time, the museum had opened an exhibition hall aptly named as ‘Frogs!’ which made our outreach all the more relevant. Instead of focusing on genetics, we led more conversations about chytridiomycosis and the threat risk to amphibian species worldwide Partnering with the Florida Museum of Natural History was a great way for our guinea pig iGEM team to gain recognition within the community and to publicize iGEM and synthetic biology as a whole.

YouTube Channel

Additionally, our team collaborated with Florida State’s iGEM’s team to create a joint YouTube channel. The channel is tailored to inform those interested in synthetic biology and to relay our experiences in the lab to those seeking guidance. The YouTube channel should be especially beneficial to new teams and people with an interest in synthetic biology. We hope to keep this youtube channel for future University of Florida and Florida State teams. The channel will be a great way to preserve and communicate our experiences and stuff we learn over time.

Florida Genetics Symposium

Lastly, our team was able to participate on an academically-geared outreach platform. The Florida Genetics Symposium is held at the Genetics Institute on the campus here. The symposium featured a number of prominent researchers who gave talks. Poster submissions from 100+ labs and individuals provided a wide range of scientific diversity and achievement. UFlorida submitted and presented a poster, and during the poster sessions the group fielded questions from faculty and received constructive advice. The opportunity to observe the other project posters and converse with the lab groups themselves was a valuable learning experience and a source of inspiration.

Science For Life Seminar

Several UFlorida members also spoke about iGEM and our project at the Science For Life Seminar. Science for Life is a course offered at the University of Florida for first and second year students intent on future research involvement. The course is meant to show students how fundamental science and engineering concepts are used in research and discoveries. Presenting in front of the class was a great way to introduce iGEM and synthetic biology to students who already possessed an interest in science and research. In addition, this experience was great practice for the upcoming iGEM Jamboree! The key points we hit on during this presentation were ‘what is synthetic biology?’, ‘what is iGEM?’, and ‘how to become involved with the 2018 team’. Being able to reach out to a wide variety of University of Florida STEM students was very valuable to us because UFlorida is a young team looking to expand membership and group knowledge in the years to come.

Undergraduate Research Expo

The University of Florida is a prominent research institution and thus a major endorser of undergraduate involvement. The Center for Undergraduate Research (CURBS) was established to provide greater educational and applied opportunities for students. At the (gator) tail-end of our project, CURBS hosted an Undergraduate Research Expo to which the team submitted and presented a poster. This experience was comparable to the Genetic Symposium, however the primary audience consisted of a younger demographic. In addition to the meandering faculty members from widespread college departments, the number of undergraduates was greatly augmented. Besides those presenting posters, there were a number of student that walked into the exhibition ballroom simply to observe and learn. Hopefully, more than a few were even inspired to become involved in research themselves! AT this event we were able to reach out to a valuable subset of undergraduates at the University of Florida, those that were already expressing interest in research and could potentially join the UFlorida team for the next iGEM cycle. However, this expo was not viewed as recruitment, but simply another chance to present our piece of the scientific puzzle.