Team:Alberta/Humanpratices

This year, for the first time, we carried out a bit of a social experiment: we invited a substantial number of local high school students to join the team. In the end, the team is composed of five high school students, in grades ranging from 10 to 12, and four undergraduates, one from each academic year and none with previous iGEM experience. The idea is two-fold: firstly, to extend the reach of the iGEM experience to a different audience of students, effectively expanding the outreach of synthetic biology; and secondly, to see if the different background and perspectives of younger students would have an impact on the nature of the science done.

Although we expected that the HS students would have formal coursework background, there were several unanticipated obstacles. One was school schedules. High school classes run until nearly the end of June, limiting the participation of the HS students during the initial phase of the project. Another was logistics and transportation. Generally the HS students neither lived on campus nor drove a vehicle, complicating their availability especially for after-hours lab sessions. However there were also unanticipated benefits. The younger students brought a level of enthusiasm which readily overcame any differences in background. Moreover, the undergraduates and HS students bonded during lab hours and discussions of topics ranging from religion (adherents of most of the world’s major groups were present) to card games and beyond.

Overall, the effort was demanding but positive, and something we will recommend U of A iGEM teams consider in future years.

Members of the iGEM team presented to WISEST Teacher Appreciation Day, Aug 14, 2012, discussing the iGEM program and our project. WISEST is a U of A training program aimed at encouraging the attraction, retention and advancement for women of all ages in science, engineering and technology.

We also presented at the Alberta Genetically Engineered Machines competition on Sep 15-16, 2012. aGEM, currently in its fourth year, is a western Canada gathering of iGEM teams, where they present and receive feedback from a star-studded panel of judges. Although patterned after iGEM, aGEM attracts its own audience, including more than 100 largely local luminaries who came to hear about advancements in synthetic biology at the hands of Canadian students. Although this year Calgary won aGEM (boo! hiss! the University of Calgary is a traditional rival to the University of Alberta), we received encouragement and a slate of useful suggestions for the remainder of our project.

High school students who took part in our team will be an important component of our outreach. Their experience, paired with the fact that they are still active in the local high school community will allow them to be powerful proponents of high school iGEM, and will hopefully allow them to have a part in setting up future high school iGEM teams in Edmonton.