2018 Bio-Link Summer Fellows Forum
Event Details
Event Description
Each year Bio-Link Fellows from across the nation travel to the Clark Kerr Campus (CKC) in Berkeley, CA to learn about the latest practices in biotechnology education. Come join us for our 20th Annual Summer Fellows Forum.
At the Bio-Link National Summer Fellows Forum (SFF), participants learn new skills and techniques, examine and test exemplary curriculum models and course materials, discuss ethical, legal, and social issues in biotechnology and learn how to disseminate this information within their own regions. Fellows are expected to implement new strategies into their own programs, to lead regional staff development activities, and provide prompt response to follow-up surveys.
Bio-Link Summer Fellows Forum Fellowships
The Bio-Link National Center will select individuals geographically to receive the Fellowship from the following categories: a community or technical college biotechnology instructor, a community or technical college math or science instructor, or a high school teacher. First consideration will be given to applicants who have not yet attended a Bio-Link Summer Fellows Forum or received a Fellowship. Consideration will also be given to past Fellows who can demonstrate how this conference will provide necessary and unique value to their students, region and themselves.
The Bio-Link Fellowship includes single occupancy accommodations in a Clark Kerr Campus (CKC) shared dormitory style suite (or "Commuter" if local) all CKC meals, as well as access to all workshops, materials, the Industry Tour and the Closing Dinner Banquet. Due to rising accommodation and meal costs any lodging charges associated with "no shows," late arrivals, early departures or unattended meals will become the responsibility of the Fellow and billed to the Fellow at the conclusion of the Forum. It is the Fellows' responsibility to fund all travel costs (including parking and shuttle fees) to and from the Forum.
PLEASE NOTE: The CKC is NOT a Hotel and you will assigned a Suite Mate, and although you have your own bedroom you will share a bathroom. Therefore, please be advised that Spouses, Partners, Friends, Children, etc. cannot be accommodated at the CKC.
The HOTEL DURANT is within close proximity to the CKC and more information can be found at www.hoteldurantberkeley.com (link is external) or you can use GOOGLE to locate other hotel options. Bio-Link does not endorse any hotels.
Due to the large volume and processing time of Fellowship Applications this year, Fellowship Recipients will be notified no later than April 9, 2018. Application review and selection is almost complete -- thanks for your patience!
OPEN REGISTRATION
Individuals interested in attending the Forum and can provide their own funding (no Fellowship) for the Conference Registration Fee and all travel costs, must register online with the National Bio-Link Center by using the on-line registration link.
The Bio-Link OPEN REGISTRATION includes single occupancy accommodations in a Clark Kerr Campus (CKC) shared dormitory style suite (or "Commuter" if local) all CKC meals, as well as access to all workshops, materials, the Industry Tour and the Closing Dinner Banquet. It is the Fellows' responsibility to fund all travel costs (including parking and shuttle fees) to and from the Forum.
PLEASE NOTE: The CKC is NOT a Hotel and you will assigned a Suite Mate, and although you have your own bedroom you will share a bathroom. Therefore, please be advised that Spouses, Partners, Friends, Children, etc. cannot be accommodated at the CKC.
The HOTEL DURANT is within close proximity to the CKC and more information can be found at www.hoteldurantberkeley.com (link is external) or you can use GOOGLE to locate other hotel options. Bio-Link does not endorse any hotels.
Forum Fees
$850.00 Single Occupancy Registration Fee (includes CKC shared suite lodging, all CKC meals, workshops and materials)
$525.00 Commuter Registration Fee (NO lodging - includes all CKC meals, workshops and materials)
$60.00 CKC Parking Permit (5 days/4 nights)
REGISTRATION has closed.
PAYMENT Deadline: Friday, May 25, 2018 -- via CHECK ONLY (we cannot accept Credit/Debit Cards)
Event Location(s)
Clark Kerr Campus
2601 Warring Street
Berkeley, CA 94720
United States
Event Presentations
Soil Microbiome of Urban Tilth's North Richmond Farm
Soil Microbiome Project at CCC: On Campus Internship, Authentic Service to Community Customer, Recruiting STEM Students Workshop Presenter: Katie Krolikowski
In response to analysis of labor needs for the high concentration of R&D firms in the region, the biotechnology program at Contra Costa College in San Pablo, CA has been increasing its focus on making its training attractive to STEM students intending to transfer to 4-year institutions, while continuing to serve certificate- and associates degree populations. Learn how we have contextualized our ’standard’ training curriculum to a research project that surveys the changes in the microbiome in the soil of a local farm being developed by Urban Tilth, an organization committed to building a sustainable, healthy, and just food system where residents of Richmond “Grow your own!” Though currently supported by CA’s Strong Workforce Program funding sources, this project did not appear as a full-fledged program in Spring of 2017 when those fund became available! Key groundwork that set up this project, including grant projects, partnership with community organizations, professional development and advisory board insights, will be shared.
CSO Community of Practice: cincNet.org overview
Presenters: Mary Slowinski and Abbe Kesterson
AC2 Regional Bio-Link is building Communities of Practice for bioscience education, and at last year's Summer Fellows Forum the team recognized an increasing community interest in CSOs & incubators. The CoP leadership team decided to focus on CSO network building and the result is cincNet.org, a website built with two overarching recommendations in mind: to form a Bioscience CSO/incubator network and to develop a comprehensive CSO/incubator toolkit.
The intentions of the website are:
- Facilitate a distributed leadership, expertise (classic CoP)
- Collaboration network grant
- Development of nodes
Contributors are welcome, please visit the website and email: cincnet.org@gmail.com
Visualize it! Using Molecular Models to Predict the Effects of Mutations on Protein Function
Presenters: Sandra Porter, PhD, Digital World Biology, Bio-Link National Center, Austin Community College, Shoreline Community College and Todd Smith, PhD, Digital World Biology
The wide application of DNA sequencing has made it possible to identify numerous missense mutations. Unfortunately, the act of translating the potential impact of these mutations to practical advice requires either an in-depth understanding of biochemistry and molecular interactions or access to a knowledgebase containing this kind of information. If we can teach students how to predict the effects of mutations, we could have students participate in annotating molecular structures and build that knowledgebase for clinicians, patients, and the biotech community. To achieve the goal of developing students’ skills to the point where they can make informed and realistic predictions about the effect of a mutation on the function of a protein, they need to understand how proteins work at a molecular level. This level of understanding requires students to know their amino acids and functional groups. In this session, we will discuss what it takes to get students to this level of understanding, introduce ClinVar–a database of genetic variation, and play games designed to help students learn about amino acids and chemical bonds and discuss the utility of games as a tool for learning.
The Amino Acid cards are available at the Digital World Biology shop on Etsy.
YouTube videos illustrating ways to model mutations are at Digital World Biology YouTube channel
The structure collections used in this talk can be found at https://digitalworldbiology.com/structure-collections
Selling Your Administrators
Presenters: Mary Slowinski (AC2 Bio-Link) and Abbe Kesterson (Bluegrass Community and Technical College, AC2 Bio-Link)
Getting buy-in on your ideas and proposals from your department and college administrators can be daunting and often the first hurdle to clear when you are ready to embrace a new project or plan. Join us for this interactive session to review the basics of pitching ideas, practice your pitching skills in small groups, and take away insights on how to approach and successfully sell your ideas to your administration.
WHEN AM I EVER GOING TO NEED THIS? Is Math a Barrier or a Gateway?
Presenters: Lisa Seidman, (Bio-Link Leadership Team, Madison College), Jennifer Lazare, (Anderson High School, Austin Community College, AC2 Bio-Link), Bridgette Kirkpatrick (Collin College)
Employers, instructors of technical subjects, and mathematics educators who participated in a three-day conference on January 12-15, 2018, focused on how mathematics education might better reflect the concepts and skills that are needed for success in the workplace. Making math instruction relevant can change math from a barrier that keeps students out of STEM to a pathway for success.
Leveraging Various Opportunities for Innovation & Network Building in the Scholarship of Community College Teaching
Presenters: Linnea Fletcher (AC2 Bio-Link, Austin Community College) and Sheela Vemu (Waubonsee Community College)
Biology education research (BER), where biology faculty investigate teaching and learning within their own discipline, is considered a vital tool for transforming undergraduate biology education and enhancing student success. However, even though approximately half of biology majors complete coursework at community colleges (CCs), including disproportionate numbers of under-served students, only 3% of recent BER papers included a CC author or CC study context. This raises concerns that existing BER may have failed to characterize the educational experiences of half of the relevant undergraduate population and that innovations stemming from BER might not be reaching CCs. This project is a grassroots effort driven by a strong nationwide group of CC faculty to promote the scholarship of teaching. Other networks such as QUBES support CC faculty to promote, conduct CC BER while enhancing the representation of CCs in BER. The mission of the Quantitative Undergraduate Biology Education and Synthesis (QUBES) project is to improve learning opportunities for all students enrolled in undergraduate biology courses by reflecting the centrality of quantitative approaches in modern biology. One of the missions of QUBES consortium allows CC faculty to include the scholarship of application and integration while enhancing the scholarship of teaching. QUBES Faculty Mentoring Networks have been very supportive of CC faculty’s understanding and implementation of specific quantitative biology concepts and teaching approaches. I have benefited immensely from the peer educator interactions of the QUBES Hub tool.
Tips for Finding and Working with an Evaluator
Presenter: Candiya Mann, (Advisory Group for the National Science Foundation Advanced Technology Education Evaluation Community of Practice)
An evaluator can be an incredibly valuable asset to your project team, but how can you make sure that you get the most out of this relationship? This session will give tips and guidance on how to select an evaluator and how to work with them through proposal development and project implementation. Special emphasis will be placed on evaluation of National Science Foundation grants.
Resources for Improving Students' Quantitative Skills
Presenter: R. Deborah Overath, (Texas Southmost College)
Whether students just need a little review or "brush up" or need to deal with math anxiety, many resources are now available that can help students improve their quantitative skills. The presentation will start with a couple of short activities that can help students have a more positive mindset towards their quantitative skills and lead participants through some of the resources available on the web by having them perform parts of some of the available exercises. Participants will leave with a list of links to resources explored, as well as some activities they can use with their students. This session will focus on math/quantitative skills for the biosciences.
Mock ELISA - A Teaching Tool
Presenters: Bridgette Kirkpatrick (Collin College) and Kevin Simpson (Delgado Community College)
This workshop will be a hands-on activity, which includes a novel approach to introducing quantitative data analysis in an engaging contextual setting. Using a previously prepared ELISA based format, the class will be able to complete “disease” (or other) diagnostics and analysis in a BSL-1 environment with no specialized chemicals or equipment needed. The activity is designed to introduce students (secondary and college) to basic statistical analysis and the importance of proper curve generation and quality control. Examples of variability in standard curves and out of range control and patient samples will be included. This will be followed by discussion of examples of how ELISAs are used in the biotech industry, the consequences of improper analysis and the importance of data integrity.
Creating Stronger Partnerships between Community Colleges and K-12 School Districts
Moderator: Kristen Wolslegel, (Executive Director, Bay Area Bioscience Education Community)
There are a wide variety of options for partnering with your local K-12 schools. This session covered 4 innovative new strategies that take articulation agreements and dual enrollment to new levels. These efforts can increase enrollment in community college biotech programs, and will help create strong career pathways for students from an early age.
Four models for outreach were presented, however many more are being used throughout the community.
1. Dual enrollment model - early stage
Jennifer Lazare, Associate Professor at Austin Community College, Austin TX. High School Outreach Coordinator, AC2 Bio-Link Biotech Mentor Teacher Network
2. Dual enrollment model - late stage
Laurie Issel-Tarver, Associate Professor at Ohlone College, Fremont CA. Science Faculty Coordinator, Learning Alliance for Bioscience (LAB) Program
Debbie Clark, Biology & Biotechnology Teacher, Arroyo High School, San Lorenzo CA. LAB Program Teacher
3. K-12 professional development model
Amanda Rosenzweig, Professor at Delgado Community College, New Orleans LA. Program Director, Science Teacher Technology Training (ST3)
4. State government funding model
Ying-Tsu Loh, Program Director, Bay Area Bioscience Education Community, San Francisco CA. BABEC Lead, California Career Pathway Trust San Francisco Consortium
Jennielyn Dino-Rossi, Industry Liaison, California Life Sciences Institute. Executive Committee member, California Career Pathway Trust San Francisco Consortium