Summer 2013 REU students: back row, from left—Adrian Landreth, Maggie Tiedemann, Ethan Edmonds, George Pantelopulos, Gabriela Mejia, and Connie Herrera. Front row—Jonas DeOliveira, Prisca Sanon, Tiara Bloddworth, Maureen Ansah, and Olivia Smith. Photos by Frank Curran
For 10 weeks this summer, Prisca Sanon did the work of a real scientist. Gone were the familiar classroom lectures and practice experiments from her semesters at Massasoit Community College in Brockton, Massachusetts. Instead, she conducted an intensive research project under the mentorship of Boston University Associate Professor of Biology John Celenza and graduate researcher Sanda Zolj (GRS’17), sharing lab space with graduate students and postdocs.
Sanon probed the chemical pathways that plants use to produce glucose analytes—chemicals that ward off herbivores. A better understanding of these pathways could enable biologists to modify crops to more effectively protect themselves from mice or other creatures that have become resistant to their chemical defenses.
The research was part of the Chemistry Research Addressing Biological Problems program, run by the College of Arts & Sciences Department of Chemistry and the BU College of Engineering and funded by the National Science Foundation through its Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program. Sanon was one of 11 students attending the program—chosen from an applicant pool of over 500 from colleges around the country. Program organizers Linda Doerrer and John Snyder, both faculty in the chemistry department, aim to recruit women, minorities, and those from less-privileged backgrounds; this year’s group was primarily from community colleges.
“When we look for students, we look for qualified people who work during the summers rather than have all these opportunities thrown at them,” says Snyder. “We are trying to level the playing field.”
REU students, from left, Gabriela Mejia, Ethan Edmonds, and Connie Herrera in chemistry class taught by Associate Professor Linda Doerrer, bottom left. Prisca Sanon, bottom right.
BU’s REU program is part of a much larger picture. It is one of many initiatives CAS researchers run or support with the goal of enhancing the teaching of the so-called STEM disciplines (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) at all academic levels. One of the primary goals of STEM programs is to bring more women and underrepresented minorities into science and technology fields.
“At my school, you don’t have time to really explore what you are doing,” says Sanon, who plans to transfer to a four-year college and then work in manufacturing or research—at least until her two children are older and she has time to pursue a PhD. “In this program, none of us really knows what the outcome of our research will be. We are truly scientists exploring. It has allowed me to see myself doing this work professionally, whereas before I wasn’t sure.”
STEM programs supported by CAS faculty and staff run the gamut from five-week intensive computer science training for rising ninth-grade girls (the Artemis Project) to a weeklong introduction to scientific careers for high school girls from lower-income backgrounds (Summer Pathways) to a day of immersive math activities for high school students and teachers.
But STEM is not just about reaching out to students. It is also about improving pedagogy by training current and future science educators. The Glacier summer program partners CAS and ENG graduate students with K–12 teachers to improve pedagogy in a host of disciplines, including marine science, math, earth science, biology, and engineering. Thanks to the diligence of CAS’s Cynthia Brossman, administrative director of the Learning Resource Network (LERNet) and organizer of STEM programs at BU for two decades, the Glacier program was able to send educators to the coral reefs and rain forests of Belize for 10 days in April. They studied the health of coral reefs and the rain forest trees’ ability to pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. They designed a teaching unit based on this experience, which they and their partner educators in Belize plan to bring to their classrooms.
“In thIs program, none of us really knows what the outcome of our research wIll be. we are truly scIentIsts explorIng. It has allowed me to see myself doIng thIs work professIonally, whereas before I wasn’t sure.” —Prisca Sanon
One of the most powerful impacts of STEM programs is the chance for students to interact with scientists and other students interested in science. “I think there is this stereotype that scientists can be self-taught and successful,” says Doerrer. “That is really not true. What we do is actually incredibly social. Successful research groups work together, interact, and share techniques with each other. In places like community colleges, that is often not being done. So when students come here, they learn the language and the culture of chemistry [research]. It is a total immersion experience.”