Howard Hughes Medical Institute – News /news Tue, 13 Jan 2026 17:03:29 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0.3 /wp-content/themes/b/bates-framework/styles/images/bates-favicon.png Howard Hughes Medical Institute – News /news 32 32 乐播传媒 wins $1 million grant for equity-driven STEM innovations /news/2018/07/05/bates-wins-1-million-howard-hughes-medical-institute-grant-for-equity-driven-stem-innovations/ /news/2018/07/05/bates-wins-1-million-howard-hughes-medical-institute-grant-for-equity-driven-stem-innovations/#respond Thu, 05 Jul 2018 13:23:40 +0000 /news/?p=117099 The grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute will fund the transformation of STEM culture at 乐播传媒 to fully support all students in the sciences.]]>

乐播传媒 College has won a $1 million grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute to transform its STEM culture to fully support all students in the sciences throughout their undergraduate years.

With the grant, 乐播传媒 joins 33 colleges and universities selected in 2018 to join the , which aims to catalyze national efforts to broaden participation of students from all backgrounds in the study of science.

At 乐播传媒, the HHMI grant will fund strategies aimed at:

  • Transforming the ways that faculty approach their work with students;
  • Expanding existing programs for student mentoring and leadership;
  • Redefining the first-year science curriculum to introduce research experiences.

鈥淎 commitment to access and equity runs deep in our history and mission,鈥 said President Clayton Spencer. 鈥淎 乐播传媒 offer of admission has always stood as a vote of confidence in a student鈥檚 talent and potential to make important contributions to our world. This grant will deepen our capacity and speed our progress toward making good on this promise for all students interested in science.鈥

HHMI is the largest private supporter of academic biomedical research in the U.S., and its funding initiatives and grant choices are considered definitive statements of an institution鈥檚 potential for transformative impact.

鈥淲hat HHMI understands, and what 乐播传媒 embraces, is that science can only be excellent when its culture supports all students for success.鈥

In accepting the grant, 乐播传媒 becomes part of a national network of colleges and universities committed to making STEM education more inclusive and equitable 鈥 especially for students who arrive via nontraditional pathways, including underrepresented ethnic minorities, first-generation students, and working adults with families.

The 33 colleges and universities selected by HHMI in 2018聽for the聽Inclusive Excellence initiative join 24 schools selected in 2017.

鈥淲hat HHMI understands, and what 乐播传媒 embraces, is that science can only be excellent when its culture supports all students for success,鈥 said Professor of Psychology Kathryn Graff Low, who oversaw the grant process as interim vice president for academic affairs and dean of the faculty during the 2017鈥18 academic year.

STEM culture change

The HHMI grant gives the college鈥檚 STEM faculty what it seeks: funding to expand its capacity to effect culture change, said Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry Paula Schlax, the principal investigator of the grant.

鈥淢y colleagues are interested in and motivated to create an inclusive culture and to support students in ways that traditional science curricula do not,鈥 she said. 鈥淲e are confident that our strategies, particularly our efforts to design experiences that create a sense of science identity and belonging, will ultimately lead to improved student success in STEM fields.鈥

The HHMI grant is the third major acknowledgment in as many years of 乐播传媒鈥 leadership in the national effort to achieve greater inclusivity and equity in higher education. The grant also supports the major 乐播传媒 Campaign goal to transform the teaching and learning of science at 乐播传媒, including the creation of an integrated system of science facilities.

Expanded Science Fellows program

In addition to supporting new teaching and learning strategies, the HHMI grant will allow 乐播传媒 to expand and strengthen its Science Fellows program, currently a first-year-only mentoring program for 12 STEM-interested students, especially first-generation and URM students and students from under-resourced high schools.

The program will double in size, to 24 fellows each year, and fellows will remain active all four years, with expanded opportunities for STEM leadership and learning. Ultimately, this 60-student cohort of experienced STEM leaders and mentors will 鈥渉elp all our STEM students strengthen their sense of belonging and confidence to succeed,鈥 Schlax said.

Research in a student’s first year

The grant will also fund innovative opportunities for students to do scientific research as soon as they get to 乐播传媒. Known as First-Year Research Seminars, the new offerings will provide 鈥渞esearch opportunities in the intimate setting of a seminar that maximize opportunities for developing relationships with faculty and fellow students,鈥 Schlax said.

“They will begin to see themselves as scientists.鈥

Student research is 鈥渙ne of the most important aspects of our curricula,鈥 Schlax said. 鈥淚t measurably benefits any student.鈥 Yet in higher education, 鈥渋t is unusual for a first-year student to participate in 鈥榓uthentic鈥 research,鈥 in which a student investigates a compelling research question alongside a professor.

The new seminars will help 鈥渂uild students鈥 scientific knowledge and toolkits plus their science efficacy, identity, and belonging. They will begin to see themselves as scientists.鈥

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Hughes Travel Grants send academic stars into the public sphere /news/2009/04/15/hughes-travel-grants/ /news/2009/04/15/hughes-travel-grants/#respond Wed, 15 Apr 2009 12:34:16 +0000 http://bridge.batesmaine.net/?p=9534 Owen Harris '08 of Bedford, Mass., discusses his research in neuroscience on therapies for Parkinson's disease with President Elaine Tuttle Hansen.
Psychology major Jennifer Imrich '08 of Cambridge, Mass., receives a hug from Sean Wilkinson '08, also of Cambridge, after explaining her research on the impact of post-identification feedback to eyewitnesses and jurors. Imrich's mother, Cynthia Smith, smiles in the foreground.Like a sports team taking its game on the road, 乐播传媒’ best and brightest academic stars take their research into the public sphere each year. To support this academic barnstorming, 乐播传媒 provides various forms of funding, such as the annual Hughes Student Travel Grants.

Funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the awards give students the chance to attend regional, national and international scholarly meetings in the natural sciences, mathematics, health, psychology, or science and mathematics education.

At these gatherings, 乐播传媒 students present and defend their research while meeting and learning from top scholars in their fields.

For a budding scholar, developing an articulate public voice is nothing short of a requirement. If you can’t present your research, whether to fellow scholars or your roommate, “then your work is simply less valuable,” says Professor of Biology Will Ambrose.

Winners of 2008-09 Hughes Student Travel Grants

Amod Basnet ’11 and Justin HoShue ’09 attended the October 2008 in Rochester, N.Y., to present their poster on “Low Frequency Fluctuation in the Multi-mode Regime of Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Laser with Optical Feedback.” Faculty mentor: Professor of Physics Hong Lin.

Thomas Broge ’09 will attend, April 18-22, 2009, the American Physiological Society’s in New Orleans, La., to present his research poster entitled “Moderate Hyperoxia Inhibits Glomus Cell Proliferation in the Carotid Body of Neonatal Rats.” Faculty adviser: Assistant Professor of Biology Ryan Bavis.

Cora Chisholm ’10 and Ngoc Pham ’10 will attend, July 12-15, 2009, the in Breckenridge, Colo., to present the poster entitled “Calix[4]resorcinarenes and Cationic Cyclodextrins as Water-Soluble Enantioselective NMR Shift Reagents.” Faculty adviser: Charles A. Dana Professor of Chemistry Thomas Wenzel.

Miranda Gallo ’09 attended the February 2009 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, to present her poster on “Characterization of a Novel GluR5/6/7-immunoreactive Cell Group in the Buccal Ganglia of the Pond Snail, Helisoma trivolvis.” Faculty adviser: Associate Professor of Biology Nancy Kleckner.

Owen Harris ’08 attended the November 2008 in Washington, D.C., to present his senior research in a poster entitled “The CB1 Antagonist Rimonabant is Mono-and Adjunctively Therapeutic in an Animal Model of Parkinson’s Disease without Producing or Enhancing Dyskinesia.” Faculty adviser: Professor of Psychology John Kelsey.

Benjamin Levin ’09 attended the March 2009 in Corpus Christi, Texas, to present his research poster, “Geographic Variation in Growth of Greenland Smoothcockle.” Faculty adviser: Professor of Biology William Ambrose.

Gillian Leibach ’09 will attend, April 22-25, 2009, the in Montreal, Canada, to present her senior thesis poster, “Body Esteem and Disordered Eating Among Adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus: Pump versus Injection Users.” Faculty mentors: Psychology lecturer Susan Langdon and Professor of Psychology Kathryn Low.

Caitlin McMahon ’09 attended the March 2009 in Corpus Christi, Texas, to present her poster entitled “Long- and Short-Term Effects of Baitworm Digging on the Feeding Behavior of Ring-Billed Gulls on Mudflats in Maine.” Faculty adviser: Professor of Biology William Ambrose.

Kristen Meyers ’09 and Kristen Young ’09 will attend, April 18-22, 2009, the American Physiological Society’s to present her research in a poster entitled “Exercise Performance in Moderate Hypoxia in Rats with Impaired Carotid Bodies.” Faculty adviser: Assistant Professor of Biology Ryan Bavis.

Jeremy Muench ’10 attended the January 2009 in Washington, D.C., to present his poster, “Partitions-in-a Box.” Faculty adviser: Assistant Professor of Mathematics Pallavi Jayawant.

Dana Oster ’09 attended the March 2009 Geological Society of America’s in Portland, Maine, and the April 2009 at Colby College in Waterville, Maine, to present her research poster, “Mapping Short-Term Barrier Beach Processes to Model Transgressional Shore Lines in 2100 from Sea Level Rise.” Last fall, Oster won the $500 first prize at the University of Maine’s October 2008 . Faculty adviser: Professor of Geology Michael Retelle.

Elizabeth Rogers ’09 will attend, June 24-28, 2009, the 89th at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, to present her research on “Black-legged Ticks (Ixodes scapulan’s) Occurrence, Burdens of Small Mammals, and Infection Rates by Borrilia burgdorferi in Southwestern Maine.” Faculty adviser: Visiting Professor of Biology Ronald Barry.

Stuart Ryan ’09 attended the March 2009 in Corpus Christi, Texas, to present his poster, “Effect of the Polar Front on Growth Rates of the Hairy Cockle Clinocardium ciliatum.” Faculty adviser: Professor of Biology William Ambrose.

Gregory Sousa ’09 attended November 2008 in Washington, D.C., to present his senior thesis research poster, “Distribution and Impact of Neuropeptide F (NPF) within the Buccal Feeding Circuitry of the Pond Snail, Helisoma trivolvis.” Faculty adviser: Associate Professor of Biology Nancy Kleckner.

Madeline White ’09 attended the January 2009 at Yale University in New Haven, Conn., to give a presentation on her senior thesis research entitled “Construction of a Computational Stellar Model.” Faculty adviser: Professor of Physics Eric Wollman.

Kristen Young ’09 will attend, April 18-22, 2009. the American Physiological Society’s to give present her poster, “Chronic Hyperoxia Alters the Early and Late Phases of the Hypoxic Ventilatory Responses in Neonatal Rates.” Faculty adviser: Assistant Professor of Biology Ryan Bavis.

-H. Jay Burns, Office of Communications and Media Relations

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Summer program for math, science students going strong in second year /news/2008/07/24/hssp-2008/ /news/2008/07/24/hssp-2008/#respond Thu, 24 Jul 2008 18:43:36 +0000 http://home.bates.edu/?p=16444 The Hughes Summer Scholars Program from June 22 -  Aug. 1,has 11 incoming first-year students to the campus for a 6-week "summer term" in which they take two courses to start them early on their 乐播传媒 career. The goals of the program are to encourage a diverse group of students to study science and math and to persist in those disciplines, to develop intellectual and social connections with each other and with other science and math students, and to make connections with faculty members.

The Summer Scholars Program is designed to bring to campus a group of incoming first-years 芒聙聯 including students from groups traditionally underrepresented in the sciences 芒聙聯 who have a keen interest in math and science. Admission to the program was by application and a competitive selection process. One of those students is working with the program this year to help 
continue building a community of science scholars.

This program of accelerated study in which the students take a first-year seminar in the chemistry taught by (SHOWN IN PHOTOS in black leotard) Jennifer Koviach-C脙麓t脙漏 (who will become their academic advisor), and an ethnomathematics course 
taught by Grace Coulombe. The faculty will be assisted by teaching assistants Hilary Ginsburg '09 (with purple solution and dry ice) (chemistry) and Hong Nguyen '11 (math), an alumnus of the 2007 Hughes Summer Scholars Program.

Group of three: Shaunyce Johnson '12 of Randolph, ME (plaid); Reann Gibson '12 of Boston; Cameron Hamilton '12 of  Lee, ME

Pair: Sarah Dominque '12 of Cambridge, Mass., and Antonio Lewis '12 of Springfield;

Pair: Lesley Mo '12 of Waterville, ME, and Shashi Shankar '12 of Groveland, Mass.

Pair in corner: Olivia Moody '12 of Boston and Reid Christian '12 of Pownal;

First two: Zelford Leonard '12 of Cliffwood, NJ, and Nazsa Baker '12 (red shirt) of East Orange, NJ

Students are looking at the relationship between absorbance and concentration of the purple solution -- potassium permanganate -- using spec 20 instruments

Squeezing the equivalent of two semester-long courses into just six weeks, the Hughes Summer Scholars Program at 乐播传媒 is a real academic workout for the first-year students involved.

“But the program really focuses on giving support and making sure that we have the resources we need to succeed,” says Reid Christian, of Pownal, Maine, one of the 11 乐播传媒 students taking part in the second annual program.

Created by 乐播传媒 and funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the six-week program aims to bring into science and mathematics a wider range of students, including students from groups underrepresented in those fields. Participants are competitively selected from students already accepted by 乐播传媒 and who have shown an interest in the two fields.

“It enriches the sciences and math when investigators who represent the demographic complexity of the world bring multiple perspectives to challenging questions. And the program supports that,” says Pamela Baker ’69, a biology professor at 乐播传媒 and director of faculty research and scholarship in the dean of faculty’s office.

“One of the main goals is to help students transition from high school to college life,” says Jennifer Koviach-C么t茅, an associate professor of chemistry who is teaching one of the two courses in the Hughes program.

The Hughes scholars receive full academic credit for the two courses during the June 22-Aug. 1 program. They live together in student housing, spending long days and late nights on academic work (and sometimes taking a break for recreation such as a hike up Tumbledown Mountain).

Koviach-C么t茅’s course deals with the physical configuration of molecules and how their forms affect their functions. The other course, exploring mathematical systems of diverse cultures, is taught by lecturer in mathematics Grace Coulombe, director of the college’s Math and Statistics Workshop.

The courses highlight differences between high school and college-level learning. They start students developing the time-management and study skills they’ll need to thrive academically.聽“We go much faster and expect our students to take more responsibility for their education than they do in high school,” says Koviach-C么t茅.

The Hughes Summer Scholars Program from June 22 -  Aug. 1,has 11 incoming first-year students to the campus for a 6-week "summer term" in which they take two courses to start them early on their 乐播传媒 career. The goals of the program are to encourage a diverse group of students to study science and math and to persist in those disciplines, to develop intellectual and social connections with each other and with other science and math students, and to make connections with faculty members.

The Summer Scholars Program is designed to bring to campus a group of incoming first-years 芒聙聯 including students from groups traditionally underrepresented in the sciences 芒聙聯 who have a keen interest in math and science. Admission to the program was by application and a competitive selection process. One of those students is working with the program this year to help 
continue building a community of science scholars.

This program of accelerated study in which the students take a first-year seminar in the chemistry taught by (SHOWN IN PHOTOS in black leotard) Jennifer Koviach-C脙麓t脙漏 (who will become their academic advisor), and an ethnomathematics course 
taught by Grace Coulombe. The faculty will be assisted by teaching assistants Hilary Ginsburg '09 (with purple solution and dry ice) (chemistry) and Hong Nguyen '11 (math), an alumnus of the 2007 Hughes Summer Scholars Program.

Group of three: Shaunyce Johnson '12 of Randolph, ME (plaid); Reann Gibson '12 of Boston; Cameron Hamilton '12 of  Lee, ME

Pair: Sarah Dominque '12 of Cambridge, Mass., and Antonio Lewis '12 of Springfield;

Pair: Lesley Mo '12 of Waterville, ME, and Shashi Shankar '12 of Groveland, Mass.

Pair in corner: Olivia Moody '12 of Boston and Reid Christian '12 of Pownal;

First two: Zelford Leonard '12 of Cliffwood, NJ, and Nazsa Baker '12 (red shirt) of East Orange, NJ
Students are looking at the relationship between absorbance and concentration of the purple solution -- potassium permanganate -- using spec 20 instruments

The Hughes program also introduces participants to the places, practices and especially the people of 乐播传媒. A key objective, in fact, is to encourage the Hughes scholars to bond and network with people who can advise, guide and support them as they adapt to college life. In addition to faculty, these supporters include upperclass 乐播传媒 students who work as teaching assistants in the courses and the student “residence fellows” who live with the Hughes participants.

The Hughes scholars themselves constitute a mutual-aid group that will help ease the pressures of the regular academic year. “We鈥檙e really supportive of each other,” says Reann Gibson, a student from Mattapan, Mass. “We stay up late with each other, helping each other out with work. On the weekends, we鈥檝e done a few trips.”

Is it making a difference? “Definitely,” she says. There has been some work, she says, “that I don’t think I could have done by myself without help from other people鈥檚 insights on the problem.

Lauren Okano, a Wyoming resident who participated in the inaugural Hughes Summer Scholars Program last year and is a rising 乐播传媒 sophomore, confirms the importance of these relationships. “I came into the school year with faculty connections and 11 friends, and I was already adapted to living at 乐播传媒.

“Knowing some of the faculty around campus made the biggest difference,” she adds. “I knew exactly who to go to if I needed something in particular.” This summer, Okano won a competitive summer research fellowship enabling her to work as a research assistant with Baker, who is Helen A. Papaioanou Professor of Biological Sciences at 乐播传媒 and an authority on the role of the immune system in periodontal disease.

One of the nation’s largest philanthropies, the Hughes Medical Institute is a nonprofit research organization dedicated to advancing biomedical research and science education in the U.S. Learn more at the .

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乐播传媒 community aids Lewiston High School science fair /news/2004/06/08/community-aids-lhs/ /news/2004/06/08/community-aids-lhs/#respond Tue, 08 Jun 2004 16:19:47 +0000 http://home.bates.edu/?p=34033 Seventeen Lewiston High School students were honored for their work on 13 projects in the high school’s fifth annual Science Fair, held May 6.

Medals, plaques and cash awards were given to creators of outstanding science projects at the high school’s “Night of Excellence” last Tuesday, June 1.

The high school presents the annual fair with assistance from 乐播传媒 College in the forms of student coordinators engaged by the college’s Center for Service-Learning, support from a science education grant funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and the participation of 乐播传媒 students, staff and faculty among the judges.

“Without 乐播传媒, the fair would not be nearly as successful,” said Donald King, head of the high school’s science team. Typically, more than 450 students take part in the fair.

For their study of the capillary effect in carnations, ninth-graders Maria Delcourt and Ashley Stuart earned “Best of Fair” honors. “It was interesting to learn about the science in simple things, like flowers,” Stuart said.

First prize for the ninth-grade category went to Matt Gutshell, who explored the properties of sound passing through chambers of varied size. Second place in the ninth grade went to Tim Gilbert, third to Rachel Spilecki, and honorable mention to Ken Roy.

In the 10th grade, Andrea Lama won first place for her investigation of chlorine’s effects on plant life. Matt Bouchard and Jacob Chaloux shared second place, Mina Moore and Sarah Peters third, and honorable mention went to Thomas Robataille.

In the combined category for 11th and 12th grades, Nathaniel Jillette earned the top honor for his examination of animal requirements for light. Kelsey Varney and Sam Leeman earned second place, Ally St. Pierre and Becky Boyle took third, and Tracy Bradley was the honorable-mention recipient. All ninth- and 10th-graders at the high school are required to do a science project, and upper-class students take part as required in specific courses.

The fair is designed in part to introduce students not only to the information and skills specific to the problems their projects address but, more importantly, to the rigors of the scientific method.

The yearlong science fair project “really gives the students a chance to understand the experimental method at a deeper level, to be creative and to pick up a sense of what it takes to complete a long-term project,” said Gabrielle Voeller, of Denver, a 乐播传媒 sophomore who served as this year’s science fair coordinator.

“It brings out a new kind of thinking, where one concept is worked on the entire year and the student has a chance to really develop ideas.”

The 乐播传媒 students who help judge the fair also get an educational benefit, especially those studying science and education. “Their experiences at the fair support and challenge what they think they know and understand,” said Sue Martin, of the Center for Service-Learning.

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乐播传媒 receives $1.2 million in fifth Hughes Medical Institute grant /news/2004/05/18/hughes-grant/ /news/2004/05/18/hughes-grant/#respond Tue, 18 May 2004 13:59:48 +0000 http://home.bates.edu/?p=33927 nmrs

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute announced today that it has awarded 乐播传媒 College a grant, 乐播传媒’ fifth from for $1.2 million to support science education.

The grant will help fund ongoing 乐播传媒 programs in student research and collaboration with schools in the greater community. The grant will also go toward new programs exploring intersections between math and the other sciences, such as mathematical modeling of physical phenomena and bioinformatics — the use of very large research databases in fields such as genomics.

“The continued support 乐播传媒 receives from HHMI speaks to the extraordinary quality of our science and mathematics program,” said 乐播传媒 College President Elaine Tuttle Hansen.

This round of HHMI funding totaled $49.7 million in grants to 42 institutions in 17 states and Puerto Rico. The four-year grants ranged from $500,000 to $1.6 million. 乐播传媒 was among 198 institutions invited to compete for the grants.

Located in Chevy Chase, Md., the institute awarded grants to 乐播传媒 in 1991, 1993, 1996 and 2000. The 2000 grant, for $1.3 million, has supported a wide range of programs at the college — from helping fund the purchase of a nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer to supporting the science fair that 乐播传媒 helps organize each year at Lewiston High School. HHMI funding fuels student and faculty research, nurtures curriculum development and encourages students to consider careers in math and science.

“It’s gratifying that efforts we think are so valuable to 乐播传媒 students, faculty and the community are also considered important on a national level,” says Associate Professor of Biology Lee Abrahamsen, whose students have helped teach biology in local schools.

“It’s all about connections: connections between people, connections between what we learn in the classroom and what the real applications are, connections between learning and citizenship.”

乐播传媒 is one of nine U.S. colleges that have received five HHMI grants. The others are Carleton, Haverford, St. Olaf, Smith, Swarthmore, Wesleyan, Williams and Xavier.

In bolstering undergraduate science education, HHMI aims to help colleges and universities face a variety of challenges, such as staying abreast of emerging knowledge, strengthening interdisciplinary collaborations and encouraging minorities to pursue scientific careers.

Although its investigators conduct research at universities and medical schools, HHMI supports science at colleges because they too play a vital educational role, according to Peter Bruns, HHMI vice president for grants and special programs. “Colleges are a better learning environment for some students,” says Bruns, “and they serve underrepresented minorities extremely well.”

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Lewiston High Science Fair features 450-plus student projects /news/2004/04/30/lewiston-science-fair/ /news/2004/04/30/lewiston-science-fair/#respond Fri, 30 Apr 2004 18:47:35 +0000 http://home.bates.edu/?p=33752 The fifth annual Lewiston High School Science Fair takes place from 3-6 p.m Thursday, May 6, in the high school gymnasium, 156 East Ave.

Presented in partnership with the 乐播传媒 College Center for Service-Learning, the fair features more than 450 projects created by students in grades 9 through 12.

Projects are eligible for medals and cash awards bestowed for best-of-fair and first-, second- and third-place prizes in each of three grade divisions — 9th, 10th and upper-class. Last year, 30 LHS students were honored for their work on a dozen projects.

Projects run the gamut of scientific disciplines. Last year’s winning entries included studies of dissolved oxygen in springtime meltwater, the relationship between exercise and blood pressure and the variance in freezing rates among different juices.

The fair is made possible in part by a partnership with the 乐播传媒 Center for Service-Learning. 乐播传媒 students help organize the fair, and last year’s fair involved more than 60 乐播传媒 faculty, staff and students who spent an afternoon judging the projects and talking to participants. The college also supports the fair through a 乐播传媒 Science Education Outreach Grant funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

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Lewiston High School Science Fair prizewinners announced /news/2002/05/15/sciencefair-prizewinners/ /news/2002/05/15/sciencefair-prizewinners/#respond Wed, 15 May 2002 14:40:43 +0000 http://home.bates.edu/?p=21065 Plaques, medals and more than $1,200 will be awarded for the projects deemed the best at the third annual Lewiston High School Science Fair held Thursday, May 9th. Award-winning students will be presented at the high school’s “Night of Excellence” on June 3.

Cash prizes were designated for best-of-fair and for first, second and third place in three grade-level categories. Prize money was provided in part by 乐播传媒 College through a 乐播传媒 Science Education Outreach Grant funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Other awards will go to students who did not place in the top 10 but demonstrated significant effort and knowledge in their projects and presentations.

Best-of-fair went to Tarrah Bowen, a 10th grader whose project examined the effects of caffeinated soda on blood pressure. She competed with more than 400 other projects for best-of-fair.

Elisha Armour and Sara Choate received first prize in the upperclass division (11th and 12th grade) for a project that determined which location in the high school harbored the most bacteria. First prize in the 10th grade division went to Renee Castonguay for a project examining the impact of music on thought processes. Nathaniel Jilette received first prize in the 9th grade division for his study of erosion.

In the upperclass division, second prize went to Tiffany Boisvert and Elise Jack for a project on diabetes. Second prize in 10th grade went to Ashley Nadeau and Amanda Toussaint, who looked at chlorine content in drinking water, and in 9th grade the prize was awarded to Roxanne Healey and Amanda Sasseville for their comparison of the strengths of various glues.

Third prize in the upperclass category went to Kari Gronin for the project on stress in medical professions. In the 10th grade, this prize was awarded to Alexis Handy and Katie Lauze for their comparison of the drying rates of nail polishes. In the 9th grade, Matt Parker and Tony Travaglini received third prize for their investigation of the aerodynamic efficiency of different fabrics.

The five auxiliary awards went to:

Kyle Dupuis, 9th grade, for studying computer processor efficiency;

Deneiges Labbe and Kat Ustach, 11th grade, for studying artificial cartilage;

Matt Chateauvert and Audrey Ellis, 12th grade, for a project on the healing of bones;

Kerri Smith, 12th grade, for investigating bipolar disorder;

and Travis Lowe, 12th grade, for his project on human evolution.

The starting time for the “Night of Excellence” will be announced later.

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Lewiston High Science Fair features some 450 student projects /news/2002/04/24/science-fair/ /news/2002/04/24/science-fair/#respond Wed, 24 Apr 2002 20:29:24 +0000 http://home.bates.edu/?p=21755 The third annual Lewiston High School Science Fair takes place from 3 to 5:30 p.m. Thursday, May 9 in the high school gymnasium, 156 East Ave. Presented in partnership with the 乐播传媒 College Center for Service-Learning, the fair features nearly 450 projects created during the school year by students in grades 9 through 12.

The projects are eligible for medals and cash awards bestowed for best-of-fair and first-place through third-place prizes in each of three grade divisions 鈥 9th, 10th and upper-class.

Project topics in past fairs have ranged from psychology to botany to meteorology. Last year’s winners included students studying the flame retardance of common household materials, the nature of dreams, the relationship between temperature and wind speed, and the effects of nutrition on blood.

“Science-fair projects give kids their first experience in real science,” says Mike Hutchins, head of the high school science department. The fair also addresses key indicators in the State of Maine Learning Results.

New this year are the upper-class grade division, the sponsorship of prizes by businesses and organizations, and the opening of the fair to elementary school students. Elementary school classes will visit the high school to view the projects during the fair.

The Lewiston High School Science Fair is made possible in part by a partnership with the 乐播传媒 Center for Service-Learning. The fair “is a wonderful opportunity for 乐播传媒 to share its resources and for its students to learn more about the community,” says Sue Martin, assistant director of the center.

Last year’s fair involved more than 60 乐播传媒 faculty, staff and students who spent an afternoon judging the projects. The college also supports the fair through a 乐播传媒 Science Education Outreach Grant funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

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乐播传媒 seeks collaborative K-12 proposals for math and science grants /news/2002/02/26/math-science-grants/ /news/2002/02/26/math-science-grants/#respond Tue, 26 Feb 2002 20:21:19 +0000 http://home.bates.edu/?p=22961 乐播传媒 College is looking to Maine teachers and school administrators, as well as the college’s own students and faculty, to propose initiatives designed to improve education in mathematics and the sciences.

Made possible by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), the 乐播传媒 Science Education Outreach Grant Program offers Maine K-12 schools support for equipment, curriculum development and other projects that will improve science teaching and learning. To be eligible for funding, proposals must involve direct collaboration between a K-12 teacher or administrator and 乐播传媒 faculty or students.

Grants of $100 to $10,000 are available for science education projects during the academic year or for summer curriculum development projects. Any project with a well-designed plan, a sound and well-articulated budget and a clear K-12 school-乐播传媒 College collaboration will be considered.

March 15 is the deadline for proposals to be implemented this summer or during the fall 2002 semester, with notification by May 1.

Past projects supported by the 乐播传媒 Science Education Outreach Program have included the redesign of a sixth-grade physical sciences curriculum, acquisition of computers for high school sciences, enhancement of kindergarten reading programs with science materials, purchase of microscopes, water quality kits and other equipment for teaching science at the elementary level, and a mathematics project that integrates junior high school and high school math curricula and students.

HHMI, one of the country’s largest private scientific institutions, furthers all fields of science, biomedical research and medicine, including science education. 乐播传媒 has received several HHMI grants to enhance science and mathematics education at the college level. The Science Education Outreach Grant Program at 乐播传媒 is intended to help cultivate the next generation of scientists.

School systems, administrators, or teachers anywhere in Maine may apply for the outreach grants, but preference will be given to proposals submitted by teachers and administrators from under-resourced schools and from schools in Androscoggin, Franklin and Oxford counties.

Proposals are reviewed by the Hughes Council, a group of 乐播传媒 science and mathematics faculty members. The Council awards strong, coherent proposals that address science education in light of the Maine Learning Results standards, serve a significant number of K-12 students and teachers, enhance current science offerings or propose revisions to existing curricula, demonstrate a long-term commitment to proposed science education enhancements, and articulate a solid collaboration among K-12 educators and/or students and 乐播传媒 students and/or faculty.

To request an application form, call or e-mail Kerry O’Brien, assistant dean of the faculty at 乐播传媒, at 207-786-6065 or this聽 e-mail. Proposals must be delivered or postmarked by March 15 and sent to the Office of the Dean of the Faculty, 乐播传媒 College, 2 Andrews Road, Lewiston, ME 04240.

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Hughes Medical Institute awards $1.3 million grant for science education /news/2001/03/01/hhmi-science-grant/ /news/2001/03/01/hhmi-science-grant/#respond Thu, 01 Mar 2001 19:35:02 +0000 http://home.bates.edu/?p=18257

乐播传媒 College has received a $1.3 million grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the nation’s largest private supporter of science education from elementary school through postdoctoral studies.

The HHMI grant will support a broad range of activities, including summer fellowships for students conducting science research with 乐播传媒 faculty; students conducting applied science outreach projects such as water-quality work for municipalities; the development of new science courses and teaching laboratories; and curriculum development projects between 乐播传媒 students and local K鈥12 science teachers.

The grant will also fund science education initiatives aimed at encouraging more 乐播传媒 math and science students to consider careers in K鈥12 teaching. Two colloquia for 乐播传媒 faculty and Maine K鈥12 teachers on precollege science education and the Maine Learning Results are being planned, and new 乐播传媒 courses on the methodology of teaching science will be developed.

“I am particularly excited about the portion of the award earmarked for the development, in collaboration with colleagues in the Department of Education, of programs that will encourage our students to become involved in secondary level teaching,” said T. Glen Lawson, a biochemist, associate professor of chemistry at 乐播传媒 and a member of the HHMI grant planning committee.

“This support will provide 乐播传媒 with a tremendous opportunity to become actively involved in meeting one of the most serious and widely spread challenges currently faced by our education system, a shortage of adequately prepared high school and middle school science teachers.”

乐播传媒’ global information system and lab instrumentation for courses in the life sciences will be upgraded, and weather stations will be installed on the 乐播传媒 campus and at the 574-acre 乐播传媒-Morse Mountain Conservation Area, in Phippsburg. The 乐播传媒 Science Education Outreach Grant program, supported by the recent HHMI grant, will continue to fund science education improvements in underresourced K鈥12 schools in Maine.

“The colleges and universities receiving these grants contribute greatly to the education of both scientists and nonscientists,” said HHMI President Thomas R. Cech. “These grants will help them do what they do best: provide undergraduate research opportunities and build bridges between the sciences and the humanities. I expect that these programs will serve as models for other undergraduate institutions.”

The 乐播传媒 grant is among $50.3 million that HHMI recently awarded to 53 colleges and universities to support science education programs. HHMI invited 224 U.S. colleges and universities to submit grant proposals. The recent $1.3 million grant, among the largest HHMI awarded this year, is the fourth grant that 乐播传媒 has received from HHMI in the past decade.

HHMI’s grants program supports science education in the United States and a select group of researchers in other countries, complementing its principal mission: research in cell biology, computational biology, genetics, immunology, neuroscience and structural biology with its own scientific teams. About 350 investigators are employed in HHMI laboratories at 72 academic medical centers and research institutions across the United States. Altogether, the Institute has awarded more than $850 million in grants, primarily to enhance science education from preschool through postdoctoral studies.

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