"Innovations in Undergraduate Biology Education" effort led by Graham Walker, Dina Gould Halme, Julia Khodor, and Melissa Kosinski-Collins This Special Seminar Series is sponsored by the Education Group. We have had several very exciting and well-attended seminars so far. When the speakers came to MIT, they spent the day meeting with members of the Education Group and had lunch with graduate students and postdoctoral fellows interested in teaching. Many of our invited guest speakers were able to supplement the education-focused aspect of their visits with meetings related to their research.

Graham Hatfull from the University of Pittsburgh. Graham, gave a talk entitled: "Phage Genomics: Adventures in Undergraduate and Pre-College Research Experience" on Thursday April 29th, 2004. Graham spoke about his project that involves high school students in the process of isolating, sequencing, and annotating the genomes of novel bacteriophage. Much of the work is carried out in his laboratory and provides a wonderful opportunity for the members of his lab to gain mentoring experience. Graham Hatfull's Research Homepage Graham Hatfull's HHMI Professors Page

Jo Handelsman from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Jo gave a talk entitled: "Scientific Teaching: Why and How We Need to Reform Science Education" on Thursday January 29th, 2004. Jo spoke about the data supporting the need for educational reform and some of the projects she has been working on to increase student involvement in their own learning. Jo also performed an exciting experiment demonstrating the icenucleating abilities of a bacteria. Ice Nucleation Video After Jo's visit, two members of Graham Walker's lab made a video demonstrating the ice nucleating abilities of a bacteria (and the inability of a control bacteria to nucleate ice formation). Graham used this video in one of his biochemistry lectures in his Introductory Biology course. More information on lecture enhancements For more information on lecture enhancements made by Graham Walker, please click on the link above. Jo Handelsman Research Homepage Jo Handelsman HHMI Professors Page

Bob Full from the University of California, Berkeley. Bob will give a talk entitled :The Value of Interdisciplinary Research-Based Instruction" on Monday, February 7th, 2005. Bob spoke about how teaching clases can actually facilitate and inspire one's own laboratory research. He described a research-driven class that he teaches that has not only helped his students to think critically, but has inspired interdisciplinary projects within his research lab. Bob Full Research Hompage

Richard Losick from Harvard University. Rich gave a talk entitled: "Getting Undergraduates Excited About Science: Inquiry-Based Research Projects and Interactive Lectures" on March 18th, 2005. Rich discussed making laboratory opportunities available for under-represented minorites early in their academic career, the introduction of a large project lab on the Harvard campus focusing on cutting-edge research, the use of student instant response devices in a molecular biology lecture hall, and incorporating elements of inquiry-based learning into a large classroom environment. Rich Losick Research Homepage

Mary Lidstrom from the University of Washington. Mary gave a talk entitled, "Biology at the interface: Teaching biology to engineers" on April 15th, 2005. Mary described a biology elective class for engineers that she has been teaching for several years. Mary's main motivation resides in the idea that biologists learn biology using the motivation of "what", but engineers study biology with the motivation of "how." Her class incorporates a number of student-initiated learning mechanisms such as problem solving and group activities. The classes are now becoming more and more focused for specific engineering major groups such as electrical, mechanical, and chemical engineers. She described how each group tackles biological problems differently and summarized the benefits each group attains from a non-lecture based format. Mary Lidstrom Research Homepage Mary Lidstrom HHMI Professor Page

Michael Summers from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Mike gave a talk entitled, "Beating the odds: Increasing diversity in the biomedical sciences." Mike spoke about his efforts in the ceration of a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Scholar's Program. This program main focus is to increase the number of minority students who attend Ph.D. or M.D./Ph.D. programs. The students engage in research experiences as early as their first year of school and are encouraged to work with reseach faculty throughout their undergraduate career. Mike discussed the benefits and challenges associated with implementing this program, and talked about how other universities could establish similar programs using UMBC as a model. Michael Summers Research Homepage

Isiah Warner from Louisiana State University. Isiah spoke on June 10, 2005 on the program established at LSU for recruiting minorites to science. Isiah has been established a HHMI Professor's program at LSU that works hand-in-hand with the LA-STEM program. Both of these initiatives are designed to give research experience to under-represented minority undergraduates interested in pursuing careers in science. Students in these programs are asked to attend a summer bridge workshop before they actually start their freshman year at LSU. In addition, these students work closely with faculty mentors in both a research and personal development capacity. Isiah Warner Research Homepage