Synthetic biology is still a poorly understood tool by the public at large and even students. Working at NASA, our team had the additional responsibility of educating Agency officials and other members of the federal government. To this end, our outreach this summer included participation in the following events.
Outreach Events
Here are some of the outreach events we conducted this year.
Held a synthetic biology booth at the Bay Area Maker Faire. May 17th, 2014
Hosted a visit by the UCSF-UC Berkeley iGEM team to NASA
Taught children about biology through strawberry DNA extraction at World Maker Faire in New York. September 20th, 2014
We presented our project to California Academy of Science scientists and public engagement personnel, seen posing with us here under the Academy's T-Rex! August 20th, 2014
Our team met with and presented to NASA Ames Research Center Director and team sponsor Pete Worden.
We presented our project to and engaged with Jim Head, distinguished Prof. of Geological Sciences and Mars researcher from Brown University. Here, Prof. Head feels one our biomaterial samples.
Above, our team poses with Ellen Stofan, NASA Chief Scientist after having presented our work to her and given her a tour of our lab.
Our team presented to California Congressman Ami Bera about our work in synthetic biology.
We presented our project to and engaged with Jim Head, distinguished Prof. of Geological Sciences and Mars researcher from Brown University. Here, Prof. Head feels one our biomaterial samples.
Gave a synthetic biology presentation at Stanford's high school Bioengineering Bootcamp
Presented to our sponsors at DNA2.0. August 1st, 2014
Taught synthetic biology at booth in the World Maker Faire, New York. September 20th, 2014
Met with Margaret D. Lowman or tree climbing "Canopy Meg," Chief of Science and Sustainability at the California Academy of Sciences. August 20th, 2014
Pete Worden, NASA Ames Research Center Director and team sponsor is seen here approving our team's wasp wrangling expedition.
Our team posing with Jim Head during his visit to our lab.
We participated in the Northern California iGEM Meetup hosted by the UCSC iGEM team. In this photo, we're sharing our project with UCSC team members. August 15, 2014
A small portion of our team posing with Congressman Ami Bera after having given him a tour of our lab and answered his questions about synthetic biology.
We participated in the Northern California iGEM Meetup hosted by the UCSC iGEM team. In this photo, we're sharing our project with UCSC team members.
Additional Outreach
In addition to some of the outreach documented above, our team was also involved in sharing idea about synthetic biology through the following outlets:
● Brown University's 250th open house
● NASA Ames 75th anniversary open house
● Collaborations with the California Academy of Sciences on wasp trapping and wrangling
● Contributions to the Paris-Bettencourt iGEM Newsletter
● Northern California iGEM Meetup at the University of California Santa Cruz
People Hosted
We were honored with the opportunity to host the following individuals in our lab at NASA Ames.
● Congressman Ami Bera of California’s 7th Congressional District from the U.S. House of Representatives
● NASA Ames Center Director S. Pete Worden
● NASA Chief Scientist Ellen Stofan
● NASA Chief Technologist David Miller and staff
● Dr. Barry Groves, Superintendent of Mountain View/Los Altos School District and his staff.
● Professional explorer, educator, and environmental advocate Josh Bernstein.
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