Jackson Laboratory Awarded $539,779 Science Education Grant by Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Date: June 12, 2003

Bar Harbor, Maine-To help improve science education in Maine and increase the number of qualified science teachers in the state, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute has awarded The Jackson Laboratory a $539,779 Precollege Program grant. The 3-year grant will fund research internships for high school students and for student teachers-in-training enrolled in the University of Maine's new Master of Science in Teaching (MST) program.

The Jackson Laboratory is a world-renowned, nonprofit biomedical research institute, with 37 research groups studying the genetic basis for human diseases and disorders. Under the internship program, the teachers-in-training will spend a semester at The Jackson Laboratory, getting hands-on laboratory experience while interacting with the Laboratory's academic-year high school interns. MST program instructors will guide the student teachers in translating their research experience to the classroom.

The grant also provides funding for high school students participating in The Jackson Laboratory's historic Summer Student Program and for local high school students serving academic-year internships at the Laboratory. Recruitment efforts will include targeting minority and underserved high school student populations.

Jon Geiger, Ph.D., director of The Jackson Laboratory's Education Office, notes, "We anticipate that this program will become a model in which both students and teachers explore the true nature of experimental science in the same laboratory setting with sound mentoring. Teachers and students who have not had this first-hand laboratory experience cannot fully understand that science is both a body of knowledge and a way of understanding the physical world."

Dr. Susan McKay, chair and professor in the University of Maine Physics Department, will direct the MST portion of the funded program. The internship program will begin in the fall 2004 semester for the local high school students, spring 2004 for the University of Maine student teachers, and summer 2004 for the Summer Student Program high school students.

The Jackson Laboratory was one of 19 institutions, from a pool of 300 eligible institutions nationwide, to receive a Precollege Grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The goal of the program is to advance public understanding of science in the community through programs targeting K-12 students and teachers.

To encourage young people to choose science as a career, The Jackson Laboratory offers programs for students at every educational level. The Summer Student Program and academic-year internship programs provide high school and college students with an opportunity to conduct independent research under the guidance of staff scientists. Other educational opportunities at the Laboratory include day programs for elementary school students, thesis research opportunities for graduate students, a cooperative Ph.D. program with the University of Maine, and a postdoctoral training program.

Contact(s): Joyce Peterson, 207-288-6058, joyce@jax.org

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Email: news@jax.org