Team:William and Mary/Engagement



Outreach Database Project
This year, our team decided we wanted to make a difference in future outreach project by creating a database that would allow for other teams to research past outreach projects and build off of their ideas. It is similar to the iGEM Parts Database.
To access our Outreach Database, click here
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Connecting With Legislators



The William & Mary iGEM team, based out of the Bioengineering Lab, often acts as representatives for our institution's science programs. Because The College of William & Mary is a public institution, the programs here rely on funding from the Virginia state government. The important scientific that occurs here, including research by W&M iGEM, would not be possible without this funding. .


Outreach Project: Donor Event Audience: General Public, Specialized Audience Goal: Educate on Synthetic Biology Product: Background information, an adapted experiment protocol, and instructions for how to set up the activity can all be found here. Objectives: 1. Represent The College of William & Mary to donors 2. Talk about the importance of funding science programs at The College 3. Do a Strawberry DNA Extraction based on protocol and background that was created for the activity 4. Use the activity as an example of what the team works on in the lab every day 5. Teach about molecular cloning in the context of synthetic biology Result Type: Qualitative Results: Participants said they learned more about synthetic biology and the iGEM laboratory Reach: 50 adult participants Assessment: This was a fun, simple, and cheap activity that could be easily done with any age level and anyone (participants don't need to have a deep understanding of biology). It did get a little messy, so the protocol was changed accordingly. It is also a good idea to be clear on what happens in each step of the process so that it can be explained to participants. At the end of the event, we also created a document for other iGEM teams that explained how to set up the activity, based on our experience. ​Overall a successful outreach activity.



Boyle Society Visit



On April 29th, members of the Boyle Society, a group of individuals who help fund research at William & Mary, visited our lab. We did a strawberry DNA extraction with 50 participants and talked to them about the importance of the research that we do. Members of our team worked with participants and explained the basics of synthetic and molecular biology. We also briefly explained our iGEM project and its importance for the field of synthetic biology.


Outreach Project: Donor Event Audience: General Public, Specialized Audience Goal: Educate on Synthetic Biology Product: Background information, an adapted experiment protocol, and instructions for how to set up the activity can all be found here. Objectives: 1. Represent The College of William & Mary to donors 2. Talk about the importance of funding science programs at The College 3. Do a Strawberry DNA Extraction based on protocol and background that was created for the activity 4. Use the activity as an example of what the team works on in the lab every day 5. Teach about molecular cloning in the context of synthetic biology Result Type: Qualitative Results: Participants said they learned more about synthetic biology and the iGEM laboratory Reach: 50 adult participants Assessment: This was a fun, simple, and cheap activity that could be easily done with any age level and anyone (participants don't need to have a deep understanding of biology). It did get a little messy, so the protocol was changed accordingly. It is also a good idea to be clear on what happens in each step of the process so that it can be explained to participants. At the end of the event, we also created a document for other iGEM teams that explained how to set up the activity, based on our experience. ​Overall a successful outreach activity.