Team:McMasterU/Engagement
Public Engagement
This page will contain information for your Gold medal Human Practices work, which you can also use to nominate your team for the Public Engagement page. To make things easier, we have combined the Gold medal page with the Best Integrated Human Practices page since we expect the work to overlap considerably.
iGEM teams are unique and leading the field because they "go beyond the lab" to imagine their projects in a social/environmental context, to better understand issues that might influence the design and use of their technologies.
Teams work with students and advisors from the humanities and social sciences to explore topics concerning ethical, legal, social, economic, safety or security issues related to their work. Consideration of these Human Practices is crucial for building safe and sustainable projects that serve the public interest.
For more information, please see the Human Practices page.
Gold Medal Criterion #1
Expand on your silver medal activity by demonstrating how you have integrated the investigated issues into the design and/or execution of your project.
Public Engagement
To compete for the Public Engagement, please describe your work on this page and also fill out the description on the judging form.
You must also delete the message box on the top of this page to be eligible for this prize.
Inspiration
Here are a few examples of excellent Public Engagement work:
Discovery Day
oGEM Meetup (Ontario iGEM)
What you see right here is a gathering of Canada’s future in the field of synthetic biology. More specifically, you’re looking at the members of oGEM 2017, Ontario’s chapters of iGEM (International Genetically Engineered Machine) from Waterloo, McMaster, UofT, Queens, Ottawa, Guelph and Western.
Gathered here in Kitchener, Ontario on July 17th, this year’s oGEM annual meet-up was generously hosted by Waterloo iGEM, who really pulled out all the stops for an amazing conference. Complete with enlightening speakers from Ontario Genomics (oGEM’s generous sponsor) and startups, we received insight into how iGEM and synthetic biology fits into the world outside of academia, and learned the expanding role synthetic biology will play in the future. Also held were open discussions between teams about iGEM on topics ranging from how to build a good Wiki to collaboration opportunities to even science memes - dialogue which unleashed a cascade of helpful advice, funny stories and mutual lab-work oriented commiseration.
Although I cannot speak for anyone other than myself, the feeling that others are in the same boat when it comes to redoing (and redoing and redoing) PCRs and that others get (and actually laugh at) your bad synbio puns happens to be one of the best feelings in the world. The iGEM community spirit truly was present at oGEM 2017!
Following the speaker series and group discussions on Wikis and Wet Lab collaborations, we broke for lunch. And oh, what a heavenly lunch... Coffee, donuts, subways, and guess what? Even lobster soup. I don’t think I’ve eaten so well since my last trip home! Shout out to Waterloo for such amazing catering and hosting!
What was even better than the food though, was getting to connect on a personal level with other iGEMers from different chapters. oGEM this year has a very diverse set of chapters with varying levels of experience, thus leading to fresh perspectives on every aspect of running an iGEM chapter. McMaster iGEM’s delegates (pictured below from left to right; Eva Liu of Dry Lab, Aline-Claire of Human Practices, Jessica Chee of Wet Lab, and Co-Presidents Jinny Lee and Angela Dong) when conversing with all the other chapters wound up like Ebenezer Scrooge on Christmas Eve - by being smack dab in the middle of the pack in terms of establishment experience, we gained insight into our past, present and future. We also gained exponentially greater respect for our mGEM forebearers - starting a club like iGEM from scratch is truly a superhuman feat.
Borne out of this difference in levels of chapter establishment came also a collaborative initiative designed to guide newer chapters while also sharing knowledge and advice between more established chapters. The oGEM Manual, brainstormed by Jinny Lee, is a multilaterally collaborative handbook on how to run an iGEM team. Covering everything from iGEM specific information like how to fulfill medal criteria and make a Wiki, to meta skills like team-building and leadership, to more technical aspects of running what is essentially a synbio start-up initiative such as grant-writing and sponsorships outreach, to the really technical such as how to design a plasmid and protocols for basic practical microbiology lab techniques, we hope that this guide will serve many iGEM teams well in the coming years.
After the lunch break (lobster soup, you will be sorely missed), project presentations commenced from each oGEM chapter. As seen from the photo above (featuring UofT iGEM representatives explaining their incredible project for designing an off-switch for CRISPR cas9), each team spent 15 minutes explaining and answering questions about their summer project via PowerPoint presentation, akin to how we will later present our findings at the November Giant Jamboree. Many different chapter aspects - wet lab, dry lab, human practices, community outreach and more - were covered and it was eye-opening to see the various creative ways each team approached their project. oGEM chapter projects are like a box of chocolates - you never know what innovations you’ll get next. DNAzymes, yeast prions, ice-binding bacterial biofilms... these are just a handful of the inspiring, mind-blowing projects oGEM chapters have embarked on this year.
Several Q&A sessions, photo ops, collaboration discussions and a whirlwind tour through Waterloo’s iGEM lab later, and the day was up. A truly fantastic experience, I almost didn’t want to leave (the 3 hour bus commute back to McMaster didn’t help either but hey, at least we’re not Ottawa with their 9 hour drive!). However, with contact info exchanged, collab opportunities forged and newfound friendships gained, parting is not such sweet sorrow... especially when we might all be bussing together in a literal party bus to the Jamboree in November.
Once part of the oGEM fam, always part of the oGEM fam. Until next time!
