MDI Biological Laboratory

12/08/2024 | News release | Distributed by Public on 12/08/2024 17:43

Biomedical Bootcamp Wraps Up Eighth Successful Year

Education

Biomedical Bootcamp Wraps Up Eighth Successful Year

  • August 12, 2024
Exposing high school students to science and genuine science experiences.

By Elisabeth Marnik, Ph.D.,Science Education and Outreach Coordinator

After eight years and a pandemic, our "Biomedical Bootcamp" is hitting its stride. The experience highlights the importance of investments that engage young people in the intellectual and economic opportunities that science can offer.

Since 2017, about 100 high school students from across the country have traveled to MDI Biological Laboratory for an immersive week of classes, experiments and biotech skills-building. They come from as far west as California, as close as MDI itself and many places in between. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Bootcamp went online, attracting virtual participants from around the world.

MDI Bio Lab's Jane Disney, Ph.D., and I started the program in response to contacts from high schoolers looking for opportunities to engage in real science experiences. That first year's pilot program proved to be a resounding success.

Every year, I am amazed by the lengths students and their families undertake to enable them to participate. They fly or drive across the country, endure long daily commutes, camp in tents at local campsites, and many will wake up at 4 a.m. to attend virtually.

One participant was recruited this year by a high school teacher whose own child had a life-changing experience at a previous MDI Bio Lab high school program. The teacher believed the student had promise and should enjoy the same opportunity. To make sure it happened, they stayed in a tent at a campground nearby, during what turned out to be one of the summer's hottest weeks.

That level of commitment indicates how challenging it can be for high school students to find science experiences outside the classroom. Bootcamp fills that gap by providing a unique type of exposure to science, research and career options.

Over the week, the students learn the tenets of experimental design, and they design and conduct their own experiments. This year, their experiments measured the impacts of caffeine, sugar and alcohol on the fertility and movement of C. elegans roundworms. They learned other skills as well, such as pipetting, DNA extraction, methods for sorting genes and proteins by molecular size and the basics of CRISPR gene-editing technology.

They were also introduced to bioinformatics (the application of computer technology to complex biological datasets), and microscopy. Members of MDI Bio Lab's research groups gave short talks introducing the students to the biomedical research that's happening here. And they got to spend some time hearing from other people in a variety of science-related careers.

Every year after leading and teaching Bootcamp, I reflect on the remarkable attention to detail and the dedication these students have shown. Although working with high schoolers takes a lot of time and resource investment, it is essential, because our future depends on increasing scientific literacy in the general population and on bringing new people into science, technology, engineering, and math - the STEM fields.

Data show that STEM skills support 67% of the U.S. workforce and a similar share of our gross national product. Yet public perception of the value of science is declining, and concern is rising that we are not attracting enough new talent to keep up with projected workforce needs.

Investment in the next generation through increased exposure to science and education at younger ages is crucial to creating a sustainable scientific enterprise, one that is supported by the public's belief in the benefits of research to society.

That's why it would be a mistake to minimize the impact of programs that focus on high school students. Our goal is to continue to expand and offer more opportunities to the high school, college and graduate students MDI Bio Lab already supports, and to expand to include K-8 students as well. Keep an eye on our website to learn more about these expanding opportunities.

If you have a high school student interested in participating in next year's Bootcamp applications will open in January of 2025. Scholarships are available to those with financial need.