Overviewmissionstatement

Overview Mission Statement

 

From the beginning, our team wanted to pursue a project that would represent the spirit of Maryland. What better than to turn to the Chesapeake Bay, a natural resource that is priceless to Marylandians. The Chesapeake Bay, in addition to being a beautiful attraction, supports aquaculture and ecosystems that are essential to the economy and the environment. So, after choosing to address an oyster pathogen, one of many issues that threaten Chesapeake Bay health, we sought to understand the implications of our project and how it could be applied.

 

We organized various meetings with different Chesapeake Bay organizations to gauge the usefulness of our research and to further optimize our design. In doing so, we were made aware of the fact that public opinion played a large part in governing what research would be admissible and what the final product of the research could look like. Then, we took it to the next step to start our own initiatives to help educate and spread awareness about synthetic biology, and iGEM specifically in the context of the Chesapeake Bay and the environment. This outreach was accomplished through surveying a population of students and giving a class for middle school students.