Sarah Barrington, a 9th and 10th grade biology teacher at the English High School in Boston, was one of 10 high school STEM and community college teachers to participate in the Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) program at BU this summer. Here, working in the Banskota Lab, Barrington loads a sample for gel electrophoresis. Photos by Kelly Peña

Engineering

BU Research Program Opens Doors for Boston High School Teachers, Students

Hosted by the University’s Photonics Center, the Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) program is a six-week summer research opportunity for high school and community college teachers

For many high school teachers, summer means a slower pace. The final bell on the last day of school brings the marathon of the academic year to a close, and opens up a stretch of less structured, more relaxed days, before the calendar flips again to September. 

That might have been how Sarah Barrington’s summer unfolded, too. Instead, though, Barrington, a 9th and 10th grade biology teacher at the English High School in Boston, spent six weeks this summer poring over protein databases, replicating impossibly small loops of DNA within particles, and gazing intently into a microscope. 

Barrington was one of 10 Boston-area high school STEM teachers and community college faculty who spent the majority of their summer vacation learning at Boston University through a program hosted by the Photonics Center. Research Experiences for Teachers (RET), as the name suggests, is a six-week paid summer research opportunity for teachers and community college faculty, who receive training and mentorship from BU faculty and graduate students as they engage in authentic, hands-on engineering research projects.

The program is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and was spearheaded by Xin Zhang, a Distinguished Professor of Engineering in BU’s College of Engineering. Shereen Mejia, a physics teacher at East Boston High School and former RET participant, is curriculum coordinator for the program. 

By the end of the six weeks at BU, the teachers have deepened their research skills and gained a new or better understanding of science concepts and technology applications, as well as a fuller idea for potential career paths for their students. Throughout the program, the teachers also meet regularly with each other as they develop an original curricular lesson or activity related to their research experience, which they can bring back to their classrooms and publish online.

“It’s incredible how much I learned in six weeks,” says Barrington, who was working in a biomedical engineering lab overseen by Samagya Banskota, an ENG assistant professor of biomedical engineering. 

Banskota and the researchers who work in her lab—including Barrington, for a month and a half this summer—use concepts and techniques that span biomaterials design, synthetic biology, drug delivery, and gene editing, to better understand and treat diseases. 

Barrington and her mentor, Julianna Hitchcock (ENG’26,’29), a PhD candidate working in the Banskota Lab, were testing specific particles to see whether they would become more or less effective at gene editing within a cell—a critical step in the process of developing the kinds of highly targeted treatments that represent the next generation of medicine. 

“Honestly, it felt like my brain was exploding every day with how much I was learning and growing and developing new skills,” Barrington says. “Obviously I can’t bring all of this highly specialized equipment back to my classroom, but I can reproduce so many of the skills and concepts in other ways that will expand the horizons for my students and help them understand these complex ideas. Just getting to practice my lab skills and my computer science skills this summer has given me so much confidence and completely re-energized my approach to teaching.” 

Other participants in Barrington’s cohort echoed her enthusiasm. 

Kevin Liu, a 9th grade biology teacher at the Dearborn STEM Academy, worked with Liangliang Hao, an ENG assistant professor of biomedical engineering, to analyze lactobacillus cells for their potential as delivery systems for targeted drug therapies—an experience he describes as “extremely meaningful.” 

“I knew very early on during my own studies that I wanted to focus on teaching and didn’t necessarily want to be in a lab, but this experience allowed me to conduct research and actually really enjoy it,” Liu says. “I learned new techniques and research processes that I can translate back to my students, many of whom are interested in being nurses or doctors or helpers in the medical field in some way.” 

José Colmenares, an adjunct faculty member at Berkshire Community College, teaches students who are a bit further along in their lives, but still need some guidance and support. During his six weeks at BU, Colmenares worked with Thomas Bifano, an ENG professor of mechanical engineering and director of the Photonics Center, to study data communication through lasers, part of a field called adaptive optics.

Colmenares, who teaches physics, says he found a new way to make the field interesting for the nonphysics students in his classes—and gained a new appreciation for the ways AI can augment scientific research. 

But it’s not just the teachers who benefit. 

Banskota says the RET experience was valuable for her lab. 

“Working closely with an educator gave us a different perspective on how we communicate our science and made us think more carefully about how we can explain complex ideas in ways that are accessible and engaging,” says Banskota, adding that her lab has already begun planning ways to maintain the relationship with Barrington and her classes throughout the school year. 

Hitchcock, who works in Banskota’s lab and mentored Barrington throughout the summer, agrees. 

Hitchcock says she was eager to participate in the RET program as a way of connecting more deeply with the Boston community. “One thing, however, that I was not expecting, was to be personally moved and inspired through this program,” she says.

“During my undergraduate and graduate studies, I have developed a passion for education and hope to become teaching faculty in the future. Accordingly, it was amazing to share a passion for education and student success with Sarah, and learn from her extensive teaching experience,” Hitchcock says. 

And, as Barrington points out, the benefits reach beyond the researchers and labs at BU. 

“I’m so grateful to my mentor, Julianna, who took the time to explain her research with me and answered every question I had,” Barrington says. “It’s so important to pour into teachers in this way because then we pour into our students—students who maybe wouldn’t have known they could pursue science as a career. And there are ripples to this: There were just 10 teachers here this summer, but the 10 of us are going to reach hundreds of students this year, and thousands over the course of our careers. If even a handful of those students get into biomedical engineering because of this, or go into a science career because of this, that’s a real impact.”