SEPA Community Newsletter – April 2018

SciEd 2018 is right around the corner. This is your chance to interact with other SEPA PIs, sharing successes and great ideas. Registration has begun, so sign up early to attend and plan to showcase your work!

Who Should Attend: NIH-funded science education projects PIs, staff, evaluators and participants; NIH staff; STEM-focused federal agency staff; and other individuals interested in science education.

Mark your calendars for the 5th annual USA Science & Engineering Festival Expo 2018. Explore 3,000+ hands-on exhibits from the world’s leading scientific and engineering societies, universities, government agencies, high-tech corporations and STEM organizations. The free two-day Expo is perfect for children, teens and families who want to inspire their curious minds. Interact with NIH scientists and researchers at the NIH Pavilion. We hope to see you there!

Regeneration is one of the most tantalizing areas of biological research. How are some animals able to regrow body parts following injury? Why can’t humans do the same thing? Can scientists learn the secrets that imbue certain animals with this amazing ability? Could that knowledge someday be used to develop new therapies to help people heal. Join Dr. Jeremiah Smith as he discusses his work studying lamprey genomics.

Dr. Berri Jacque presented evaluation results at a recent TEDx Beacon Street talk. More than 1,500 students were asked, after completing six weeks of The Great Diseases: Infectious Disease course, “What is the first word to come to mind when it comes to disease?” and “What is your confidence level towards learning about health and diseases?”

Scientastic! Are You Sleeping? is an Emmy® Award-winning show, which blends live-action with 2-D and 3-D animations that incorporates a fictional plot with interviews from actual doctors and scientists, to view at home, in the classroom or on TV. The show is available from the App Store, GooglePlay and Amazon. Additional apps, games and curricula are available on the Project Website.

Dr. Ann Chester was featured in the inaugural TEDx WVU debut in early March. Her presentation, “Rekindling the American Dream in Students,” focused on the importance of providing a sense of community through educational programs for underprivileged youth.

When students know what the consequences are for risky behavior, they are less likely to engage in that behavior. This series of hands-on, inquiry-based lessons uses living animals, planarians, to model human physical responses to chemicals of addiction—some of which are found in foods.

Update: New collaborators! The We “Role" Like This project has expanded beyond Purdue University to additional regions of the country. Collaborators include Colorado State University College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University, Lincoln Memorial University College of Veterinary Medicine, and Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine.

The Science Education Partnership Award website contains information about current and former projects funded by the National Institutes of Health’s SEPA program. Please check your project web page for accuracy. To update or edit information on your project page, you will need to register as a SEPA Contributor.

Nothing builds a community like communication. To share news related to your SEPA project, or STEM education efforts in your local community, you can do so directly once you sign in and access the Dashboard page.