Blogs

Math--how to teach it, how to use it, who needs it, and how to keep it from being a barrier between students and jobs. These are all topics of discussion at the Needed Math, a National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Education Funded Conference. This conference, held from January 12-15, 2018 brought together employers in three STEM fields (biotechnology, manufacturing technology, and information and communication technology), post-secondary instructors of technical subjects related to those fields and mathematics educators. Employers surveyed for the Manufacturing Institute's 2014 Skills Gap study report a "sizeable gap" between the talent they need and that available on... Read more

The 2018 Texas ASM Fall meeting was hosted by the Texas A&M University and co-hosted by Del Mar College in Corpus Christi, November 8-10th. Both faculty and students gave oral presentations, on topics that ranged across microbiology, as well as molecular and cellular biology. The conference also had an afternoon dedicated to undergraduate and graduate student poster presentations and with prizes awarded for the best talks and posters in each category.

Dr. Daisy Zhang and Dr. John Robert Hatherill from Del Mar College organized the judging and award ceremonies. Dr. Linnea Fletcher and Dr. Daisy Zhang organized and co-chaired... Read more

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) held the 10 th Community College (CC) Day on November 19, 2018. This provided community college students and faculty in Maryland and Virginia an excellent opportunity to visit the NIH campus and learn about careers and training opportunities in Biomedical and Health-related fields.

The NIH CC Day keynote talk was delivered by Dr. Erica Barr, Director NIH CC Programs and Dr. Sharon Milgram, Director, Office of Intramural Training and Education. It was very insightful and inspiring for the students. Following the talk, there were breakout sessions on careers including; Research, Medicine,... Read more

How cool is this? Des Moines Area Community College Biotechnology program graduate Lyndsay Baker's experiment will be sent to the International Space Station for research. Lyndsay hopes that the algae grown as part of her experiment will produce the compound astaxanthin to help keep astronauts healthy.

Lyndsay's project, Microalgae Biosynthesis in Microgravity (MicroAlgae), studies the effects of microgravity on Haematococcus pluvialis , an algae capable of producing a powerful antioxidant, astaxanthin. It could provide a readily available dietary supplement to promote astronaut health on long-duration space exploration missions. Lyndsay is an alumna of... Read more

Have you noticed how data analysis has become such a big part of our world? Gathering data has been an integral part of science for a very long time but the ways we use data have exploded in complexity and power. Bringing that complexity to classroom discussions is both necessary and challenging, and that is where the ESA/QUBES Data Explorers Faculty Mentoring Network event can help!

The Quantitative Undergraduate Biology Education Synthesis (QUBES) Project and the Ecological Society of America (ESA) are currently in their third round of Faculty Mentoring Networks (FMNs). These online communities... Read more

Last week I attended my first NSF ATE PI meeting. As a contributing member of Digital World Biology's ATE project entitled " A Bridge to Bio-Link's Future ," I participated in the conference by preparing and staffing our booth in the first evening's showcase.

As a brief background, the NSF (National Science Foundation) ATE (Advanced Technology Eduction) program celebrated its 25 th anniversary this year. ATE's mission is to support innovations in technical education at two-year colleges. These colleges, also known as community colleges, serve a vital role in education. While many know of their role as a... Read more

Night comes early in October. Colorful leaves give way to cold dark nights and scary creatures hide in dark alleys, ready to pounce on unwary pedestrians. But I grew up in the era of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, so Halloween-style monsters don't frighten me. It’s the changing climate that keeps me up at night. Vampires are nothing; I want people who can slay methane and CO2.

After the reading about the 2018 report from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, I’m afraid our time to fight climate change is running out. Just as October hurricanes... Read more

I haven't had a chance to meet Dr. Johnson, but I know I owe her a big Thank You! for all of her efforts.

Dr. Elaine Johnson to retire after decades of spearheading biotechnology education in SF Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO – City College of San Francisco (CCSF) and its Board of Trustees honored Dr. Elaine Johnson at its board meeting scheduled on Thursday, August 30th, 2018. Dr. Johnson is retiring after decades of spearheading biotechnology education in San Francisco Bay Area. She has been a force in the... Read more

The first time I saw the name of this competition I envisioned a big machine with a huge crank arm being industriously twisted around and around by a horde of scientists in white lab coats. And although I got the details wrong (lab coats are optional!) the basic idea, people working together to achieve something big, was accurate.

The NSF 2026 Idea Machine is a competition to help set the U.S. agenda for fundamental research in science and engineering. Participants can earn prizes and receive public recognition by suggesting the pressing research questions that need to... Read more

Digital World Biology recently received an NSF ATE project grant [1] to advance the Bio-Link.org and Biotech-Careers.org websites. The project started in July, and we are proud to share our first update to the Bio-Link.org website. The last update was launched in early 2016, nearly three years ago. In web-years that's really old. Read more