ATE Project Talks: Bioscience in Atlanta and Building Inclusive Labs

Welcome to the InnovATEBIO 2024 series of virtual ATE project talks.  This series features leaders in biotechnology workforce education from across the US sharing their work on exciting projects funded by the National Science Foundation's Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program.  The ATE program supports the education of technicians for the high-technology fields that drive our nation's economy.

Each talk will be 20 minutes, followed by 15 minutes for questions and discussion.

View the whole series of InnovATEBIO 2024 ATE project talks.

Talk 1:  Bioscience in Atlanta

Description:  The vision for this project is to engage dual-enrollment students in unique summer workshops, support an industry speaker’s series, provide tours of biotechnology companies, and develop a first-year experience seminar course. The eventual goal is to connect students at Atlanta Technical College with biotechnology companies in the greater Atlanta area. Pieces of the project are in place but some of the work is progressing more slowly than anticipated. We will talk about the project goals, objectives, and the challenges we've experienced.

Speakers:  Barry Bates Ph.D., Atlanta Technical Community College, Atlanta, GA

• Learn more about the Atlanta Technical College Bioscience Emerging Technician ATE project

Talk 2:  Building Inclusive Labs - A Collaborative Approach to Work-Based Learning

The Building Inclusive Labs project brings together a community college biotech program and a research university, and top biotechnician employer, in a collaborative approach to work-based learning to foster science workplaces where everyone is set-up to succeed. Towards this effort we created novel parallel trainings for: 1) Employers to operationalize inclusivity in how they hire, train, and supervise, 2) Community college students to skillfully navigate the workplace and recognize and foster inclusive workplace practices. These trainings have been adapted for academic and industry settings, and have been attended by 1,000+ scientists from 50+ organizations. In this session we’ll share our experiences working in close partnership with a major employer, changing the dynamic of working with industry from “charity” to “professional development” and provide a series of related resources.

Speaker:  Karen Leung, PhD, City College of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA

• Learn more about the A Collaborative Approach to Work-Based Learning in Biotechnology: Building Inclusive Lab Environments ATE project.