Outreach Overview for NSF PFRB:
Both my sponsor and I are excited about the prospect of offering both laboratory and bioinformatics research experiences to students from underrepresented groups in biology. For this, we will partner with organizations currently available at Oregon State University specifically, the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP), Oregon Alliance for Minority Participation (OR-AMP) and the OSU Center for Genome Research and Biocomputing (CGRB). This fellowship will provide crucial funding for me to perform the work necessary for my continued excellence in research, but will also allow me to expand my training beyond the lab bench, and into mentoring. Undergraduates will be active contributors in the proposed research project, and will participate in every step of the process (lab/field work, collecting data, performing analyses, attending conferences, coauthoring manuscripts). In addition, with the goal of exposing to students to basic research as a potential career path, I will develop and run general and targeted workshops over the course of the fellowship. |
LSAMP BRIDGE program participation: Program is aimed at incoming under-represented minority students at OSU, and introduces them to various majors within the College of Science. Lead 3 1-hr "mini-labs" where students pipetted pre-made PCR products into agarose gels, visualized their results , and performed maternity/paternity analysis of starfish samples. (September 2018, 2019)
Laboratory Skills Workshop : Coordinated in conjunction with LSAMP to give students interested in performing research a chance to learn important skills in the lab - including (but not limited to) pipetting, extraction (DNA/RNA), purification, quantification, gel electrophoresis. Meeting with IB grad students over lunch to discuss research in the department. Prioritized students with no prior experience. Originally one 3-4 hour workshop with 12 students, expanded to a second due to extreme popularity. (February 2019; January 2020) |