Team:USAFA/Education
USAFA iGEM's Education and Communication Program
Our Education Program: The 2021 USAFA iGEM team has led education and outreach for 2021. Despite the ongoing pandemic, the USAFA iGEM team received a $2M grant for STEM outreach and hosted extensive STEM education and professional development programs over the summer (Biotechnology Immersion Program). In addition to their STEM programs, the iGEM team was an active supporter and advocate for other STEM outreach programs and events. The team participated in various events, including virtual science talks, women in STEM panels, providing resources for online/virtual learning programs, Cool science demonstrations, Science Olympiad, and science fair judging. The team also worked hard with online and social media platforms to raise awareness and teach the public, friends, and family about the exciting world of Synthetic Biology. Finally, the team included education efforts within their area of project expertise and presented at numerous scientific conferences and meetings. 
STEM Outreach Hosted by USAFA iGEM
The team collaborated with community colleges, research labs, and STEM outreach centers to submit and receive a $2M STEM outreach grant from the National Defense Education Program. The iGEM team lead a “Biotechnology Immersion Program” for 4 weeks over the summer and provided professional development for K-12 public school teachers and STEM outreach and educational activities for Middle and High school aged kids. This Biotech Bootcamp provided valuable hands-on demonstrations and activities that helped encourage K-12 kids to connect with STEM and gain experience and confidence with Science, Biotechnology, Engineering, and Math
Partnering, Sponsoring, and joining forces with other STEM Outreach events
The USAFA iGEM team volunteered and got involved with lots of STEM education and outreach events within the Air Force, Local community, School system, and within the PFAS research community. The iGEM team served as event supervisors for the Science Olympiad State Competition, they judged at local and regional science fairs, did classroom demonstrations and activities in elementary schools, planned and organized 3 different events at the Colorado Springs Cool Science Festival, and collaborated with ongoing STEM outreach events sponsored by the Air Force STEM program.
Online and Social Media Education Outreach
The iGEM team maintained several social media accounts and posted regularly to increase awareness and teach the public, friends, and family about the PFAS problem and the important work the USAFA iGEM team is doing to try and find a solution. A musical parody, online PFAS social media challenge, ongoing info sessions, and regular posts were successful at reaching a wide audience and educating the world about the work of the USAFA iGEM team .
Check out the musical parody the team created to raise awareness of the PFAS problem and what the USAFA iGEM team is doing to help find a solution:
Presenting our Research
Finally, the iGEM team contributed to scientific education and advanced the field by presenting their research at several scientific conferences, including the following:
- TriService Microbiome Consortium
- Military Health Services Research Symposium
- American Society of Microbiology Rocky Mountain Branch Meeting
- Tri Beta Biological Society Meeting
- Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students