Augmenting Secondary Education with Advanced Microscopy
Research Society Fall Meeting [1], him presenting at the 2011 Stem Cells & Regenerative Medicine World Congress [2], and his abstract being accepted to the 2011 Gordon Conference on Stem Cells and Cancer [3]. In addition, he currently has a publication in review, and he has submitted an abstract to the 2011 Microscopy & Microanalysis conference. Andres Paez is a college freshman majoring in chemical
engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, NJ. Paez was an intern in the NSIL in 2009–2010, and his research in the lab led to an abstract publication in the 2010 Proceedings of Microscopy & Microanalysis [4], as well as an abstract submitted for the 2011 conference. When asked about the research program at BCA, Lee said,
Figure 4: Andres Paez, former Nano-Structural Imaging Lab intern, and his research partner Namrata Ramani presenting their project at the 2010 Young Science Achievers Program (YSAP) culminating event held June 9, 2010, at the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City, NJ.
experiences in the lab (Figure 5). One example involved a comparison of bacterial growth on fresh versus spoiled lettuce by students in the culinary program. In another short course, students from the music ensembles examined the grooves on a vinyl record to visualize the small features which actually create the different sounds that are heard when the record is played. Tese short lessons are great for exposing a large number of students, who otherwise might not get involved in research, to the opportunities available to them.
Student Perspectives Two students, a current senior and a recent graduate, were
asked to comment about their experiences with the research program at BCA and the NSIL—especially how it made an impact on their lives and future career path. Won-Ik (Ryan) Lee is a current senior in the Academy for the Advancement of Science and Technology. His two research projects (one a collaboration and the other independent research out of the Stem Cell lab) have led to him presenting at the 2010 Material
“Research at BCA has changed the course of my life. I didn’t come here thinking that I’d become so immersed in research. However, I have become so involved in both nanotechnology and stem cell research at BCA that I can’t really see myself pursuing a career in any field other than scientific research.” Lee ended by saying, “I’ve met students from across the country—whether from summer research programs, the National Chemistry Olympiad Study Camp, or even Model UN conferences—who do ‘research’ . . . no one does research like we do at BCA. Most other students seek internships in already existing lab groups and follow set procedures; BCA’s student researchers independently develop their entire project, from formulating the research question and designing a plan to investigating the literature and conducting experiments. I believe this is what really makes our research program so special.” Paez was asked about his experience and if it opened any
doors for him aſter graduation. He responded by saying, “Te skills and techniques that I acquired in the NSIL have allowed me to have an immediate and significant advantage at the college level. Not only am I several steps ahead of my classmates in terms of thinking like a scientist, but I have been selected to work at one of the school’s electron microscopy facilities to gain research experience, all because of my internship.” He continued by saying, “For those pursuing a technical/engineering-type job during or aſter college, standing out from the rest of the crowd is what gives you an advantage. I am in a co-op program at my school, and there are over 200 students with an identical GPA and resume as me. However, those 200 students cannot say they have work published in scientific literature during high school. I can, and it definitely gives me an advantage.”
The Future of the NSIL With the NSIL only being open for three years, it is still
too early to see how successful the program is at putting students on a path for research and science in college and as a career. Tracking students that move through the program will be vital in the years ahead. However, the short-term success of the facility speaks for itself. Te NSIL at BCA has grown not only in the number of
Figure 5: Large group instruction for a freshmen biology class in the Nano-Structural Imaging Lab. Students were examining planaria as part of a lab project.
2011 May •
www.microscopy-today.com
students utilizing the facility, but also in terms of its output since it opened in 2008. As one benchmark for output, in 2009, two abstracts with two students as first authors were submitted and accepted to the Microscopy & Microanalysis conference [5, 6]. In 2010, that number rose to three abstracts with five students as first or second authors [4, 7, 8]. Tis year, nine abstracts with nine students as first or second authors were submitted to the conference. Te increased number of submissions shows the
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