Team:McMaster/Engagement
Community Engagement
As our society grapples with novel challenges in healthcare, industry, and the environment, it has become more important than ever to foster new generations of scientists, problem-solvers, and decision-makers. This goal was core to the establishment of the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) Competition for synthetic biology, and it lies at the heart of McMaster’s own iGEM team, specifically in terms of our outreach goals. Beyond our team, we look to apply our depth of mentorship and relationships with the city to facilitate a broader educational outreach strategy, that skillfully leverages our role as students to serve as peer educators in the broader McMaster and Hamilton community. The access to high-quality expertise across the sciences, humanities, and business have supported the growth of a strong culture of mentorship in McMaster’s iGEM team. Consistent with the aims of McMaster University as an institution for higher learning that appreciates both peer-based, inquiry-driven, and student-centred learning, our team has modelled many such approaches towards the cultivation of the next generation of STEM leaders. Over the past year we have been a part of the annual day-long enrichment program known as Discovery Day, hosted by Hamilton Health Sciences and the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame, attended the GFSS Health Science Symposium, presented workshops at the Research in Science Exhibition (RISE) conference hosted by the Foundation for Student Science and Technology and hosted the annual OGEM Conference. We continuously look to invest in young students and to be a part of cultivating the new generation of scientists through mentorship and education. Learn more about what we did here:
Discovery Day
A day-long enrichment program for local high school students hosted by Hamilton Health Sciences and the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame. Part of our mGEM goal is to prepare future researchers for the growing field of synthetic biology and develop our members’ mentorships skills. Together, the Wet lab and Community Outreach Team led two unique workshops, Gel Electrophoresis and Analysis & Bacterial Gram Staining respectively. Each workshop emphasized the skills needed to master the techniques as well as possible real world applications. In total, we presented our workshops to 73 people (8 teachers and 65 students) from secondary schools all across Ontario. We connected with both students and teachers, both of whom emphasized the need for more hands on learning in order to help students learn about the applications of concepts learned in class. Through this event, we were able to successfully showcase value and applications of synthetic biology, taught practical lab skills to students who otherwise would lack access to equipment and training, and inspired students to explore different paths in science. We look forward to implementing workshops and other events in our community to help students bridge the gap between knowledge learned in the classroom and the practical applications of this knowledge.
Health Science Symposium
This year has involved a great deal of foundational effort in building a framework for (1) a robust mentorship program & curriculum within the club, and (2) engagement with the broader McMaster and Hamilton student public. As a student group with access to lab space and highly skilled mentorship, one of our core focuses as an iGEM team is the professional development of our team members, and the development of our community. Beyond our team, we look to apply our depth of mentorship and relationships with the city to facilitate a broader educational outreach strategy, that skillfully leverages our role as students to serve as peer educators in the broader McMaster and Hamilton community. In line with these efforts, we attended the annual Health Science Symposium at Glenforest Secondary School. With delegates from three different high schools, we had the opportunity to engage with many students through participation in the Student Research Panel, having meaningful conversations throughout the day. The Research Panel was designed to encourage young students to pursue science and ask questions relating to both research and post-secondary education. As a student-based research team, this gave us a unique opportunity to build relationships with young students and to act as mentors, a role we hope to continue exploring moving forward.
Research in Science Exhibition (RISE) - Ethics in Health and Medicine
The Research in Science Exhibition (RISE) is an annual national flagship event run by the Foundation for Student Science and Technology (FSST). Offering a holistic approach, RISE differentiates itself from other science-oriented conferences through the emphasis on all four components of STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math). The purpose of this one-day event is to educate, motivate, and empower a world of global changemakers and scientists who will have the skills, connections, and launch pads to succeed in future endeavors.
This year, our team was lucky enough to be invited to host workshops for the delegates of this conference. Out workshop, Ethics in Health and Medicine, was designed to showcase the importance and complexity of ethics in healthcare through a debate style simulation. Watch our video below: