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Professional/Public
Service Overview
Statement Most
of my professional public service activities have been devoted to pre-college
outreach because I remain concerned about (1) high school science exposure with
an emphasis on cell biology and genetics; and (2) WOU's recruitment efforts
with an emphasis on science excellence and career placement. Virtually all outreach activities have been
made possible because of NSF/MO funding, which I designed specifically with
these concerns and goals in mind.
Because I directly supervise and support a full-time research and
outreach education coordinator (Kelly Shipley, BS/Biology and MAT from WOU),
I believe it is appropriate to include all activities facilitated under my
direction via this funding. Although I
served as the primary leader/instructor for all pre-2004 activities below,
Kelly assumed this role for virtually all post-2004 outreach events. Nevertheless, I supervised Kelly's work for
all events, assisting with curriculum development, providing advice for
troubleshooting new protocol, and administering funds for all salary and
supplies. Between June 2004 and January 2006, Kelly's position was defined as
60% education outreach, 30% research, and 10% WAMS (see below)
coordination. In January 2006, I
changed the direction of these funded efforts as a result of professional
meetings with NSF, re-focusing both Kelly and my efforts on research and
undergraduate education. Provided below are (1) an extensive summary of
pre-college outreach programs with partnership descriptions and (2) an
overview of non-outreach service activities. It should be noted, however, that
NSF-related professional service (e.g. reviewing grants and organizing
meetings) are described in the Research and Scholarship section of this
file. 1. Pre-College Educational Outreach Activities GEAR-UP
Partnership and Activities GEAR-UP, Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for
Undergraduate Programs, serves 19 high schools and 22 middle schools in
WAMS
Co-Direction/Administration and Activities WAMS,
Western Adventures in Math & Science, was founded on/for this campus in February
2004 by Dr. Bryan Dutton and I (with Dr. Fung and Phil Wade added as
Co-Directors thereafter). Our aim in
developing this non-profit program was to offer low-cost science/math
activities to local pre-college students.
After negotiations with DEP, it was agreed that each workshop would
cost $20 (30-50% less than
Upward
Bound Partnership and Activities Upward
Bound, a grant-supported specialty program at WOU, is designed to supplement
high school coursework with college preparatory experiences in a variety of
classes. Upward Bound serves students
who are under-represented minorities, low-income, and/or potential
first-generation college attendants.
Unfortunately, abysmal leadership, recruiting efforts, and support by
campus directors and staff caused us to cease all our efforts with this
program in 2004. It is extremely unfortunate WOU will probably not be awarded
another chance to fix this problem given that time is running out on this
grant and, at this writing, Upward Bound has remained director-less for
almost 6 months.
Invited
or Specialty Activities Owing
to connections made with teachers from credit overlay workshops, or contacts
Kelly maintains from her MAT training and/or family, we have also provided
free activities to several local teachers and their classes. While we hosted some activities at WOU (*
below), we also facilitated activities off-campus, either during class or
after-school club events.
Sample Outreach
Curricula Provided Life and Death of Bacteria (introductory microbiology,
antibacterial testing for grades 5-9):
Handout Protocol and Worksheet and Powerpoint Presentation. DNA Isolation and Fingerprinting (introductory
molecular biology for grades 9-12): Handout Protocol and Worksheet and Powerpoint
Presentation. 2. Service Organization Memberships American Society for Microbiology: 1989-Present MicrobeLibrary: 2004-Present Phi Kappa Phi:
2004-Present Sierra Club:
2003-Present Council on Undergraduate Research: 1998-2003 3. Miscellaneous Activities Li-Cor Inc. (maker of DNA Sequencer) official
faculty contact: since 2002, I reply
to 5-10 email or phone questions annually from other university faculty members
considering this system; these
activities stem from paid consulting work I did with Li-Cor in 2001. Science Fair Judge for on-campus JSHS/CWOES events
2002-2004 and 2006. MLER (Microbial Life Educational Resources)
contributor: In 2005, I was invited to
contribute images and curriculum links to this national website hosted by the
Thermal Biology Institute and supported, in part, by an NSF Digital Library
(NSDL) grant (of which I was not affiliated in any way). MicrobeLibrary contributor: In 2005, I contributed images to this
national website hosted by the American Society for Microbiology (ASM). Interviewed and featured in Statesmen Journal
article (December 22, 2003) - "A Growing Interest in Bacteria"
about Terry Manning's thesis work and ASM fellowship status. Interviewed and partially featured in Statesman
Journal article (February 20, 2004) - "Don't Let the Bacteria Bug
You" about one of Kelly's WAMS
workshops and WAMS in general. Thermophile
Webmistress: Since 1995, I have been
the primary author and supporter of this extensive website collection,
devoted to my lifelong passion for hiking, backpacking, trekking, whitewater
rafting, writing, and natural history/conservation issues. In 2006, this site was selected by Jonathan
Dorn (Chief Editor for Backpacker Magazine) as one of the top five of its
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