Team:USAFA/Communication

USAFA iGEM 2021- Communication

USAFA iGEM has put a full effort into science communication in the 2021 project. With misinformation, political pressures and other social issues, good science communication is more important than ever. Over the past year, we have been able to reach almost every age group. BiP program had us communicate with high schoolers and high school teachers. The Washington DC K-12 Meeting gave us a chance to talk about our project to many students interested in science. The Tri-Service Microbiome Consortium allowed our team to share our research with military contemporaries in the Air Force, Navy, and Army working in the highest levels of scientific research. Finally, the Cool Science Festival at UCCS allowed the iGEM team to bring the concepts from our project and synthetic biology to a hands-on level for pre-K to elementary school students. We really enjoy being able to share what we love to do with others. See our Education Award Page

Biotechnology Immersion Program

USAFA’s Biotechnology Immersion Program provided an outreach opportunity to local high school teachers and students, allowing teachers up to three weeks of activities and students two. The Biotechnology Immersion Program developed coursework and curriculum to integrate synthetic biology techniques into high school science classrooms. The USAFA iGEM team hosted 12 high school teachers from the Colorado Springs region. The faculty in the biology department also provided powerpoint slides, worksheets, and other learning materials to go along with each lab for use in the classroom. Furthermore, following the first week of instruction, teachers were able to stay and practice teaching specific lessons to high school students to identify their own weaknesses and better understand the content and material, making them more likely to feel comfortable actually using these lessons in their own classrooms. For these students, who stayed for two weeks of education and practice, the experiences they gained in the lab were the most valuable takeaway from the program. The Biotechnology Immersion Program allowed for outreach that built a foundation for application in the classroom, a growing community that will bring in more students and teachers in following years, and bridged the gap in providing all resources necessary for thorough understanding and instructor use independently. It also encouraged an open dialogue because we hosted teachers and students for three weeks in our facility, taught them, let them practice teaching themselves, and built a lasting relationship and partnership that has been carried into the school year. Each teacher from the program was paired up with two iGEM team members, who they contact when any help or questions arise throughout the year. For more on BiP, see our Education page.

Washington DC K-12 Meeting

2021 USAFA iGEM- Four members of the iGEM team met with high school students on a virtual platform (Zoom) from Washington DC to talk about the general PFAS problem, how we want to solve it, and a broad overview of a couple experiments. We briefed them on genetic engineering and synthetic biology, and how these can be applied to produce solutions to problems, such as water pollution by PFAS. We had a conversation to discuss iGEM, our iGEM team, and how we compete to solve global problems using science and technology. Materials produced here were the slides used to explain our PFAS experiments, which encouraged a dialogue around water pollution problems and a variety of solutions.

Tri-Service Microbiome Consortium

Cadet Eamon McHugh and Cadet Megan Doherty had the opportunity to present at the TriService Microbiome Consortium on September 15, 2021. They discussed their summer research, including results of mono-defluorination of perfluoroalkyl substances, in order to share their experiences, methods, and future directions with a larger portion of the scientific community. Visit the TSMC website here.

Cool Science Festival - UCCS

On October 9, 2021, our team participated in the Cool Science Festival for kids at University of Colorado- Colorado Springs. We were able to teach children, primarily K-8th graders, about linear and circular DNA and the mechanics behind the water filtration system. To explain how linear DNA is made, we used candies to build 3D, edible DNA. Kids made their own plasmid bracelets with beads and pipe cleaners to represent a closed conformation of the DNA. To share our knowledge on our project on the contamination of PFAS in water filtration systems, we created a DIY filtration system out of a 2-liter bottle, sand, gravel, coffee filters, and cotton balls. The children could “contaminate” their own water samples with soil, glitter, and food coloring and then put it through the filter. We demonstrated how the gravel and sand act as a natural filter, purifying water; however, the food coloring that went through showed that some contaminants in the water are harder to get out compared to others, such as PFAS.