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Meet the 2009-2010 Porter Physiology
Development Fellows Seminar on Sharing Strategies to Improve University Scientist Participation in K-12 Science Education APS Summer Research Teachers Convene to Focus on Effective Classroom Teaching |
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In 2009-2010 Fellowship year, APS awarded Porter
Fellowships to five graduate students nationally. In addition to their
graduate work, these students will participate in APS professional
development activities and engage in K-12 outreach activities. Melissa Blackman, Brandeis Univ.: Blackman graduated from the Univ. of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) with a Biology degree and is now a fourth-year graduate student in the Neuroscience Department at Brandeis Univ. Research: Blackman’s research project will examine synapse formation and function in the mental disorder Rett Syndrome (RTT). The results of her experiments will shed light on the pathophysiology of the disease by determining whether, in RTT, synapse formation and function is altered in the neurons of RTT patients and may underlie some of the symptoms of the disease. Heidy Contreras, Univ. of California, Irvine: Contreras is the 2009-2010 Eleanor Ison Franklin Porter Fellow, a second-year Fellow whose work was rated as exceptional by the review committee. She received her undergraduate and master’s degrees from California State Univ., San Bernardino. Contreras is now a fifth-year graduate student in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the Univ. of California, Irvine. Research: Contreras is currently working on dissertation projects elucidating the environmental factors that are most important in determining insect respiratory pattern when insects are placed under controlled conditions. Ultimately, she is interested in testing the water conservation and oxygen toxicity hypotheses related to insect respiration. In a side project, Contreras is also interested in investigating the function of the thoracic and abdominal spiracles in the hissing cockroaches during a specific respiratory pattern. Leroy Cooper, Brown Univ.: Cooper received his undergraduate degree from Clemson Univ. He is now a second-year graduate student in the Department of Molecular Pharmacology, Physiology and Biotechnology at Brown Univ. Research: Cooper proposes to elucidate the cellular and molecular alterations in response to cardiac senescence of both cardiomyocytes and non-cardiomyocytes using the aging rabbit heart as a model system. Aisha Kelly-Cobbs, Medical College of Georgia: Kelly-Cobbs received her undergraduate degree from Columbus State Univ. and a Master of Science degree in Biology from the State Univ. of West Georgia in Carrollton. She is currently a fourth-year graduate student in the Department of Physiology at the Medical College of Georgia. Research: Kelly-Cobbs’ research focuses on how diabetes alters blood vessels in the brain and how these changes affect stroke outcome and recovery. Tanganyika Wilder, Univ. of Illinois at Chicago: Wilder received her undergraduate degree from Florida A&M Univ. She is now a third-year graduate student in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics at Univ. of Illinois at Chicago. Research: Wilder is studying how post-translational modification, of troponin (Tn), and other myofilament proteins by AMP Kinase, plays a role in regulating myocardial contraction. She is studying the biochemical and mechanical implications this mechanism has on cardiomyocytes. About the Porter Program: The Porter Physiology Development Program encourages diversity among students pursuing full-time studies toward the physiology doctorate and promotes their participation in the Society. Porter awards provide one- to two-year full-time graduate fellowships; the program is open to underrepresented ethnic minority applicants who are citizens or permanent residents of the United States or its territories Applications are accepted annually for this program, on January 15th, and are reviewed by the Porter Physiology Development Committee. For more information about the Porter program, please visit http://www.theaps.org/education/minority_prog/stu_fellows/porter_phy/ov_pp.htm or contact Brooke Bruthers, Minority Programs Coordinator, at bbruthers@the-aps.org. |
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Seminar on Sharing Strategies to Improve University Scientist Participation in K-12 Science Education |
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The American Physiological Society (APS) hosted a seminar
on Sharing Strategies in K-12 Science Education on June 29, 2009 on the
campus of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology
(FASEB). As the second seminar in the Sharing Strategies Seminar Series,
four national program directors from locally-based professional
scientific organizations presented their efforts in improving university
scientist participation in K-12 science education. Jennifer Presley, Director of Science and Mathematics Education Policy at the Association for Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU), introduced the landscape of challenges addressed by the 2007 National Academies report, Rising Above the Gathering Storm. Presley described APLU’s Science and Mathematics Teacher Imperative to substantially increase the number and diversity of high quality mathematics and science teachers in middle and high schools. She identified key points in the academic pipeline where faculty can impact teachers. Michael Dougherty, Director of Education for the American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG), provided an example of a National Science Foundation (NSF) Math and Science Partnership, the Geneticist-Educator Network of Alliances (GENA) in partnership with the National Science Resources Center. Dougherty summarized that the GENA Project has catalyzed several organizational and institutional changes, including the adoption of a society-based statement on the importance of member scientist participation in K-12 science education and formal ASHG recognition of efforts by member scientists to departmental and university administrators. Katie Engen, a Program Associate with the American Society of Plant Biologists (ASPB) and the ASPB Education Foundation, presented an overview of her organization’s member-based volunteer and mentoring projects for students and the public, as well as workshops and exhibit booths at major science teacher conferences. Similarly, Ida Chow, Executive Officer for the Society for Developmental Biology (SDB), highlighted the availability of digital library resources for teaching, as well as outreach and workshop activities especially at SDB’s regional scientific meetings. In attendance were other education program directors and/or executive directors and program officers from the American Society for Cell Biology, American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the NSF, and the American Physiological Society. Also represented were AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellows in the Office of Science Education and the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA) program at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The seminar series is supported by an NIH NCRR SEPA (www.ncrrsepa.org) grant as part of the APS’ Six Star Science Frontiers in Physiology program (www.frontiersinphys.org). Program-matic information for the seminar series and presentations are available at: www.frontiersinphys.org/pages/page04g.shtml and in the APS Archive of Teaching Resources at www.apsarchive.org (search for keywords “Sharing Strategies”). For further inquiries, email Mel Limson, APS K-12 Education Programs Coordinator: mlimson@the-aps.org. |
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APS Summer Research Teachers Convene to Focus on Effective Classroom Teaching |
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As part of the year-long 2009 Frontiers in Physiology
Fellowship program, 17 science teachers from across the nation took a
week-long break from their summer research experience in APS members’
research laboratories at the end of July. The research teachers (RTs)
convened for the “APS Science Teaching Forum,” an intensive week-long
workshop retreat at the Airlie Center in Warrenton, VA. APS Councillor Barbara Goodman (Univ. of South Dakota) and member Shea Gilliam (Wake Forest Univ.) served as Physiologists-in-Residence, providing scientific expertise. Additionally, four past RTs led the instruction as Mentor/Instructors, and included Margaret Shain (Indiana) Becky Evans (Ohio), Randy Dix (Kansas) and Robert Manriquez (Louisiana). Martin Frank, APS Executive Director, welcomed and congratulated the research teachers participating in the 20th year of the APS fellowship program.
The teaching team facilitated sessions using the APS
research-based Six Star Science framework for supporting excellence in
science education (1). The RTs engaged in APS-developed curriculum units
for teaching middle and high school students. Additionally, the RTs
explored inquiry-based teaching strategies, integrating technology, and
addressing equity, diversity, and learning styles in the classroom. The
RTs participated in numerous hands-on laboratory and web-based
activities, shared their summer research experiences, evaluated their
current teaching techniques, and collaboratively developed strategies to
implement teaching methods promoted both by the National Science
Education Standards and each of their own respective state standards
(2).
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