Center for Plant and Life Sciences Updates

Transcription

1 September 2011 Center for Plant and Life Sciences Updates Since 2003, St. Louis Community College (STLCC) has been a part of the Missouri Pavilion at the International Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) International Conference. This year the conference was held in Washington D.C. and attracted approximately 20,000 attendees from around the world. Dr. Richard Norris, Director of the STLCC Center for Plant and Life Sciences, Eilene Lyons, Acting Dean of Science, Mathematics and Engineering at the Florissant Valley campus, Angela Taylor, Administrative Assistant for the STLCC Center for Plant and Life Sciences, and two graduates from the Biotechnology program from the Florissant Valley campus, Aliyah Sulaiman and Susan Thomas, attended the conference and represented the college at the Missouri Pavilion. Students from the Biotechnology program have proven to be an asset to the pavilion over the years, talking to prospective company representatives looking at St. Louis as a potential place to do business, as one of the major concerns is always were the trained workforce will come from. St. Louis Community College is one of the founding members of the Missouri Biotechnology Industry Organization (MOBIO) and was once again proud to be a partner in the Missouri Pavilion at BIO and help represent the state to the rest of the industry globally. Inside This Issue International Bio 2011 Richard s 30 year service award MVATA Middle School Workshop Teacher Workshop High School Workshop Word Search Bridge to Life Science ACTE 2011 Conference September Events Calendar Center for Plant and Life Sciences (BRDG Park) 1005 North Warson Road, 122 St. Louis, MO Phone: Fax: ataylor269@stlcc.edu Web-site: departments/fvbio/

2 Richard Norris 30 year award MVATA Missouri Vocational Agriculture Teachers Association Dr. Richard Norris (pictured above) was recognized at the annual Missouri Vocational Agriculture Teachers Association (MVATA) awards banquet for 30 years of service to agricultural education. Dr. Norris has 12 years of experience teaching high school agriculture, 7 years of teaching at four-year institutions (Texas A&M University and Southern Arkansas University), and is currently in his 12 th year at St. Louis Community College, where he serves as the Director of the Center for Plant and Life Sciences. Dr. Norris is a past recipient of the MVATA Distinguished Service Award, the Honorary Missouri State FFA Degree, and the National FFA Agriscience Teacher of the Year.

3 Middle School Summer 2011Workshop In June and July, the CPLS held its third annual life science summer camps for middle and high school students. In each camp, students participated in a wide variety of science activities related to the areas of biotechnology, chemical technology, and clinical laboratory. These activities included, plant DNA extraction and PCR, chromatography, crime scene analysis, and much more. Guest instructor Terry Melsheimer, South County Technical School, discussed pharmacy/medical technology and provided activities in the isolation of bacteria, antibiotic resistance, and blood typing. CPLS is in preparation of hosting 20 one-day high school workshops throughout this academic year. For more information about these workshops, please contact Kasey Sindel at or ksindel1@stlcc.edu.

4 High School Summer 2011 Workshop

5 Teacher Summer 2011Workshop This summer the Center for Plant and Life Sciences hosted its fourth professional development workshop for area High School and Middle School teachers. Eighteen teachers joined us this summer to engage in hands on laboratory experiences they can bring back to the classroom to enrich their students in the field of biotechnology. As a part of this workshop the teachers were invited to work two days on site at the state-of-the-art Sigma Aldrich facility learning techniques such as cloning and PCR, firsthand from Sigma scientists. Throughout the week the teachers were exposed to many biotechnology tools and techniques and benefited greatly from sharing ideas and lesson plans within the group. The week ended with a tour of the Danforth Plant Science Center where they learned about Danforth s mission to fight world hunger through the use of plant biotechnology. This workshop was generously supported by the National Science Foundation and Sigma Aldrich.

6 CPLS Word Search

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8 2011 ACTE Annual Convention and Career Tech Expo November 17 19, 2011 TOUR BRDG PARK WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 16TH Bio-research and Development Growth Park at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center The STLCC Center for Plant and Life Sciences is the training site for technicians within the biotechnology industry in St. Louis. It is embedded within BRDG Park, an industrial site designed to house small biotech start-ups and an ideal setting for students to get real-world training and experience. Five graduates have in fact found full-time employment with companies inside BRDG Park. The tour will not only include the STLCC space, but other tenants within the BRDG Park site, as well.

9 Up and Coming September 2011 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat BRDG 14 Annual kickoff STL School/Bus Partnership 15 BRDG Agriscience Prof Dev UMSL 24 Biotech Club Mtg 8am Biotech Fair 29 30