Team:Calgary/Communication
OVERVIEW
Science communication is the hallmark of any good research project. While we at iGEM Calgary pride ourselves on our wet lab and dry lab work, we also want to ensure that we spend adequate time on adopting a policy of open science communication. We want to start an open dialogue with the community on topics related to synthetic biology and electronic waste. This can come in many forms: from high school lectures to virtual escape rooms, individuals of all ages should have access to opportunities to learn more, explore new topics, and engage with science.
This page gives a very brief overview regarding our education and outreach collaborations for the iGEM season. For a more in-depth look at this year’s initiatives, please check out the Education page.
We focused our outreach and communication initiatives towards four audiences: the primary school audience, the high school audience, university students, and the general adult population. We decided on these groups as a solid sample of the population that could include many diverse people in our work, without being so broad as to include vastly different levels of preexisting knowledge. We sought to develop these programs for an appropriate tone and level of detail for each audience group, to prevent anyone from being disengaged or left behind. We did this by engaging with friends and family in each group to adjust our program content and ensure that our material had the ability to connect with our listeners.
ELEMENTARY
First was our material for elementary school aged children aged 8-12. We produced a Virtual Escape Room computer game for schoolchildren to learn about Rare Earth Elements through the story of a plucky robot hero. The Adventures of Lan-E escape room was presented to groups of kids through a collaboration with the Calgary Public Library. Next, we created a storybook following Lan-E’s story, as part of a collaboration with iGEM FCB-Monterrey. Our teams collected and assembled a kids storybook with the work of many environment-related iGEM 2021 teams. We then shared the book with kids in Calgary and Monterey to hear their feedback.
OLDER STUDENTS
Next, we focused on high school kids aged 14-17. We made a set of presentations to high schools on the topic of synthetic biology and core biology concepts like the central dogma, in order to bring their awareness to the field. We also took part in collaborations with two iGEM teams to provide them with educational material to be distributed to high school students.
For university students, we updated and refreshed our lecture slide deck to be more accessible, general, and appropriate for a broad audience.
GENERAL PUBLIC
Finally, we created a variety of initiatives to engage with the general public. We created and presented a two-part lecture series for the general public adult and teen audience at the Calgary Public Library. These presentations set out to demystify GMOs and engage their curiosity about
the potential of synthetic biology, while also allaying concerns about danger. We even guided a hands-on demonstration on how to extract and see DNA from strawberry fruits. Next, we engaged in collaborations with iGEM Bonn and with our university’s sustainability office to put out social media campaigns raising awareness about REE scarcity. At the end of our campaign, we organized and ran an electronic waste collection drive in our community, where people could bring in their old phones and electronics to be recycled.
Together through these initiatives, we have brought the issues of synthetic biology, REE scarcity, and e-waste disposal to the minds of a large number of people throughout our community. We’ve engaged in active dialogues with them to learn what our neighbours already know about these issues, hear their interests and concerns, and ensure their interests and needs are met by our communications programs.
