Team:Cornell/outreach
- WHAT WE DO
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fishPHARM
- DRY LAB
- fishBit
- Heimdall Monitoring
- MODELING
- Math Modeling
- Animation
- DISCUSSION
- Policy and Practices
- Entrepreneurship
- Collaborations
- DEVELOPMENT
- Notebook
- Future Applications
- Safety
- OUTREACH
- OUR TEAM
- Overview
- YOURS Mentorship
Program - Research Presentations
- Community/Student
Education - Public Awareness
Overview
Cornell iGEM aims to foster a meaningful impact on the local and global communities by sharing our knowledge in synthetic biology and engineering principles with those around us. To this end, we have reached out to community members of all ages through the YOURS mentorship program, project presentations, and community involvement, to garner a greater understanding of synthetic biology as a whole.
YOURS Mentorship Program
Cornell iGEM’s main outreach focus this season was a one-on-one mentorship program between team members and elementary school students through Cornell University’s Youth Outreach Undergraduates Reshaping Success (YOURS) program. The purpose of YOURS is to provide kids living in low-income mobile home parks near Ithaca, NY with opportunities to learn and grow. Our mentorship program aims to introduce under-served local elementary students to synthetic biology and to develop a better understanding of genetic engineering and its underlying principles within each mentee.
Our mentorship program not only taught students core concepts of science, but also emphasized our 2015 project. Each week, we crafted a hands-on modular lesson which built upon scientific principles introduced in previous lesson. We showcased the direct application of synthetic biology in the world around us by explaining how each concept could be used to combat bacterial coldwater disease in salmon. We began with basic biology lab techniques, progressed to learning about proteins and the cell, and culminated our seven week program with a visit to a fish hatchery.
Many of our mentees are not exposed as often to science in the classroom as Cornell iGEM students were during their own childhoods. But, limited access to science did not stop the local elementary students from . We were inspired by the curiosity, creativity, and tenacity of these students as they strove to learn as much as possible about the world around them. We mentored local students, but they taught us that the beauty of science truly lies within the messy yet fun aspects of scientific experimentation.
Research Presentations
Community/Student Education
Public Awareness
B07 Weill Hall, Ithaca, NY
