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2012-5-15 - On April 18, 2012, the Brain Institute hosted a visit by Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA) students from Horizonte and East High Schools, and the Salt Lake Center for Science Education. MESA is a statewide public education program that encourages underrepresented students, including women and ethnic minorities, to pursue advanced study and careers in Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM). The MESA program aligns with President Obama’s “Educate to Innovate” initiative to move American students to the top of the pack in science and math achievement over the next decade. “Our goal is to introduce STEM fields in a tangible, hands-on manner and demonstrate these fields as accessible to students who may not think it is possible to pursue science and technology professions,” said Deidre Schoenfeld, college of engineering outreach and diversity coordinator, who organized the event. In addition to touring the Brain Institute, the high schoolers met with engineering graduate students, and were given academic advising on how to prepare for becoming STEM undergraduate majors. With an attentive audience of 70 MESA students assembled before him, Executive Director John White, Ph.D., explained his own research as an example of ongoing work at the Brain Institute. “With roughly one billion nerve cells, billions more support cells, and one hundred trillion synaptic connections linking them together, how can we make sense of how the human brain works?” he asked. He described how his group uses the latest optogenetics technologies – controlling neuronal activity with light– to investigate how brain cells within the hippocampus regulate memory formation, and how to one day prevent unwanted neuronal activities that cause epileptic seizures. “My advice to you is to find a hard problem that interests you, and stick with it,” he said. |
Graduate student Tanner Coleman and a
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The students then broke into small groups and were given a choice of Brain Institute labs to visit; the Tissue Engineering (Patrick Tresco), Olfactory Systems (Matt Wachowiak), Sensory Biophysics (Rick Rabbitt), and Hitchcock Research Group (Bob Hitchcock) laboratories offered tours. Primary investigators and graduate students explained their work, their motivation, and introduced the high schoolers to the types of experiments they do. For those who visited the Hitchcock lab, graduate student Tanner Coleman demonstrated some of the medical devices that their group engineers, such as a bioreactor designed for mass expansion of stem cells, and a load system created for rehabilitating broken tibia – the most commonly broken long bone. Tentative at first, it wasn’t long before the students gave into the urge to manipulate the equipment, and started peppering him with questions. Coleman was amazed by what they already knew about science and engineering. “I’m not any different from them,” said Coleman. “I told them that if I can be a research scientist, they can, too.” At the end of the day, Schoenfeld surveyed the students. “Raise your hand if today’s experience has caused you to consider a STEM career.” At least one-third of the students shot up their hands. That’s a promising start. |
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Robert Oakes, graduate student in the Tissue Engineering lab, explains to MESA
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