{"297381":{"#nid":"297381","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Teachable Moments","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EBBUGS Education and Outreach committee taking science off campus.\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ETorri Rinker experienced the \u2018Eureka Effect\u2019 as a high school freshman back in her hometown of Kennewick, Washington, and she\u2019s been trying to share the mood ever since. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u201cIt was biology class and we started learning about DNA, and what it did, this relatively simple molecule that affects every single aspect of your body, and it was fascinating,\u201d says Rinker, now a third year Ph.D. student in biomedical engineering. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u201cWe did these experiments, and the fact that we could actually manipulate DNA in an organism and make it do something different, was just mind blowing to me,\u0022 Rinker continues.\u0026nbsp;\u201cThis was my moment of wow, when I first thought, \u2018oh my God, science is really cool.\u2019\u201d \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELately, she\u2019s been spreading that message as part of the leadership team of the Education and Outreach committee, an energetic, mission-driven collective and one of seven committees within BBUGS (which stands for \u201cBioengineering and Bioscience Unified Graduate Students\u201d). \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EBased in the Parker H. Petit Institute of Bioengineering and Bioscience, BBUGS brings together students from eight different schools to form the most diverse graduate student group on the Georgia Institute of Technology campus. Meanwhile, Rinker and her colleagues on the Education and Outreach committee are extending the BBUGS life off campus as well, through a series of programs and events aimed at Atlanta area K-12 students. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EFor Denise Sullivan, who co-chairs the committee with Rinker and Tom Bongiorno, the interaction with younger students feels familiar. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u201cMy mom is a teacher, and I\u2019ve seen how kids get super excited about science when they are exposed to it,\u201d says Sullivan, a third-year Ph.D. student who did some tutoring while an undergrad at the University of South Carolina, where she saw the \u2018Eureka Effect\u2019 unveil itself repeatedly during her involvement with the FIRST LEGO\u00ae League (FLL) program (which is designed to inspire young people\u2019s interest in science and technology). \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u201cI\u2019ve always been interested in outreach,\u201d Sullivan says. \u201cGetting kids, especially girls, interested in science before they become, you know, \u2018too cool for school,\u2019 is important. Most kids don\u2019t know what engineering or research is. So, educating the public about what we do is a big part of our mission.\u201d \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EBongiorno\u2019s outreach efforts have resulted in a two-way educational experience that he says grew out of the NSF-funded Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) program in Stem Cell Biomanufacturing. IGERT students participate in a number of outreach activities. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u201cThe idea was to bring the world of stem cell engineering to high school students \u2013 it\u2019s an exciting area of research, and we wanted to get students interested in the science in general,\u201d says Bongiorno, who has gotten something in return. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u201cThis experience has improved my ability to communicate with people who don\u2019t have a scientific background,\u201d he says. \u201cStudents, their parents \u2013 educated people, who might not know as much about biology as I do. So, it\u2019s forced me to break it down and communicate clearly.\u201d \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EHe and his fellow grad students have ample opportunities therein. Here\u2019s just some of what the BBUGS Education and Outreach does, typically in collaboration with local schools, to showcase science and the potential for future career opportunities to K-12 students:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003EOn-site outreach for local public schools, such as an upcoming program at Benjamin Mays High School (May 21), when two BBUGS teams will do separate presentations (one on biomaterials, one on stem cells) for two different high school science classes. This will include a explanation of stem cell differentiation through a game played on a plinko board, designed by a BBUGS team.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EBuzz on Biotechnology is an annual open house for middle and high school students, teachers and parents, held in the fall. Visitors can learn about biotechnology research, tour Georgia Tech laboratories and experience hands-on demonstrations of different bioengineering and bioscience concepts. Last year, for example, visitors were invited to see and touch a real human brain, to learn the structure and function of the neurological system. This fall\u2019s Buzz on Biotechnology is Saturday, Oct. 18, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EMentorship through a regular science club at partner schools in Atlanta. According to Rinker, \u201c20 to 30 grad students volunteered behind the scenes or on a regular basis to mentor high school students through a variety of engineering and science projects.\u201d The science club program is a work in progress, Rinker says. It\u2019s still evolving, like the grad students who are making it all happen. Rinker and Sullivan will rotate out of leadership this summer. \u201cWe\u2019ll let Tom take the lead,\u201d Sullivan says.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBongiorno, who seems to have invented a few new hours in the day, is up to the task. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u201cMy first week at Georgia Tech, I did my first event with Education and Outreach, and the more I do it, the more I like it,\u201d says Bongiorno, who also is president of the BioEngineering Graduate Student Advisory Committee. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ERinker may be leaving the leadership team, but the education and the outreach, that\u2019s organic stuff to her, the result of a wow moment, something that might as well be in her DNA. Before coming to Georgia Tech, she taught in the Teach for America program, in Newark, New Jersey. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u201cThis is something I\u2019m passionate about,\u201d she says. \u201cQuality in education, STEM [Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics] education in particular is a passion. I think my career can go in a variety of directions. I love science and research and I love teaching. But if you think about it, it\u2019s really all teaching.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"BBUGS Education and Outreach committee taking science off campus"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBBUGS Education and Outreach committee taking science off campus.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"BBUGS Education and Outreach committee taking science off campus."}],"uid":"27195","created_gmt":"2014-05-14 09:50:34","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:16:26","author":"Colly Mitchell","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2014-05-14T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2014-05-14T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"297391":{"id":"297391","type":"image","title":"BBUGS Education and Outreach committee chairs - Tom Bongiorno, Denise Sullivan and Torri Rinker","body":null,"created":"1449244530","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:55:30","changed":"1475894998","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:49:58","alt":"BBUGS Education and Outreach committee chairs - Tom Bongiorno, Denise Sullivan and Torri Rinker","file":{"fid":"199441","name":"bongiornotomsullivandeniserinkertorri.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/bongiornotomsullivandeniserinkertorri_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/bongiornotomsullivandeniserinkertorri_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":476916,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/bongiornotomsullivandeniserinkertorri_0.jpg?itok=WDf-AX81"}}},"media_ids":["297391"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.bbugs.gatech.edu\/","title":"http:\/\/www.bbugs.gatech.edu\/"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.ibb.gatech.edu\/","title":"Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"groups":[{"id":"1292","name":"Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience (IBB)"}],"categories":[{"id":"42911","name":"Education"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"},{"id":"8862","name":"Student Research"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jerry.grillo@ibb.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJerry Grillo\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications Officer II\u003Cbr \/\u003EParker H. Petit Institute\u003Cbr \/\u003Efor Bioengineering \u0026amp; Bioscience\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jerry.grillo@ibb.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}