Blogs

Hello Bio-Linkers,

Mesa Community College (Mesa, AZ) is about to post a job opening for Dean of Career and Technical Education (CTE). Information about the position will be posted on Monday Sept. 22 at www.maricopa.edu

Please spread the word among your colleagues.

Read more

The May 2014 edition of Bio-Link Connections is now available! Visit our newsletter page to download your copy and learn more about the wonderful things that Bio-Link programs are doing across the country and sharing with each other. Read more

View the webinar (1hr 3 min)

It was a great opportunity to hear from an NSF program officer and ask questions! Read more

Have you ever wanted to spend some time in biotech companies, calibrate your lab skills, and make sure that you're teaching students current information? You can do this and more in Winston-Salem!

Twelve community college instructors have the opportunity to spend a month in North Carolina working with folks from the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM), Biomanufacturing Research Institute and Technology Enterprise (BRITE) at North Carolina Central University, the BioNetwork's Pharmaceutical and Analytical Training Lab and Capstone Center, The Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology at UNCG, the David H. Murdock Research Institute (DHMRI), Commercialization at Wake... Read more

With much of the continental U.S. suffering from a sub zero temperatures, a group of Bio-Link instructors traveled to sunny Puerto Rico for fun in the sun with warmth and genomics.

The Universidad del Turabo recently hosted the weeklong workshop Genomic Approaches in Biosciences, an NSF-funded project from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory's Dolan DNA Learning Center (DNALC). Dr. Jose Perez-Jimenez is the PI of a subaward from DNALC intended to increase the training of community college and secondary school teachers in the area of emerging genomics and bioinformatics.

The workshop was conducted both in Spanish and... Read more

Kristine tells us about cloning African violets. The little plantlets are soooo cute!

Every time I think of a clone my immediate image is alien shaped pods with a ton of goo oozing out, and the mad scientist in the corner wearing a lab coat with a crazed look in their eye. And now, I know what it's like to be that mad scientist.

In the same class where I was taking care of NIH-3T3 cells, we did a cloning experiment on African Violets. This was the first experiment we did in the class, so it was... Read more

In spring 2013, the National Center for Education and the Economy (NCEE) issued the results of a research study that analyzed the math and English requirements for community college students entering nine popular occupational fields, including biotechnology, nursing, computer programming, and business. The study addressed the question: "What does it really mean to be college and work ready"? I contributed to the research as the only non-mathematician on the mathematics panel. I will briefly summarize my thoughts relating to the math portion of the study; you can download the full report and reach your own conclusions at http://ncee.org/college-and-work-ready/ .... Read more

St. Philip's College will host a biotech career day in partnership with two local high schools; Highlands HS and Southside HS. This event is sponsored by the Perkins grant from Austin community college biotechnology program.

invited to participate are area high schools and biotech companies and institutions in San Antonio. Event is held at 800 Quintana rd, San Antonio Texas 78211 from 9-3pm Read more

Inspired by the 2013 Summer Fellows Forum? Were there topics that should have been discussed that were missed? Share your suggestions now and help us prepare for the next year!

Don't be caught unprepared for Bio-Link Summer Fellows Forum 2014! June 2nd is almost a year away, but you can still join our planning wiki and post your ideas for next year's sessions.

Check out the Bio-Link SFF2014 planning wiki and join now!

The future is on its way! Read more

When I was first introduced to acrylamide gels way back in Fundamentals of Biology, I did not have the privilege of assembling the reagents. But I can remember just loading the gel was intimidating at first, trying to maneuver the fine tip between the plates and hopefully into the barely distinguishable wells of the gel. In the first technique class in SCF's Biotechnology program (nicknamed 'The DNA Class') I developed a false sense of security with gels. Because we mostly handle DNA, the gels that were made and ran in that class were aragrose gels. In my opinion, agarose gels... Read more