Jun 06 2010

Teaching Global Warming in Mesa County, CO

Category: Education — Kate @ 6:32 pm

A petition with 600 signatures was presented to the Mesa County school board in Colorado state, asking that teachers present a “balanced” view of global warming in the science classrooms. Balanced Education for Everyone (BEE) is behind the petition and has chosen the Mesa County school board as a national test case for banning the teaching of human caused global warming in the classroom or at least to present anthropogenic global warming as a political opinion rather than well-established scientific consensus. So far, the school board has accepted the petition, but has not yet taken action. Check out this Denver Post article with more details about the situation.

This sounds eerily similar to the “teach the controversy” issue about teaching creationism/intelligent design alongside  evolution in public schools.

May 31 2010

Interesting dialogue about scientists’ need for media training

Category: Uncategorized — Phil @ 8:55 am

Over at the intersection:
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection/2010/05/23/scientist-media-training/

May 21 2010

A Huge Leap Forward in Synthetic Biology

Category: Ethics, Scientific Advances — Alex B. Berezow @ 1:33 am

The “J. Craig Venter Institute” (JCVI) has announced the creation of a synthetic cell.  The institute created a 1 million base-pair circular piece of DNA, removed the natural DNA from a bacterium, and inserted the synthetic DNA.  The bacterium adopted the synthetic DNA and replicated normally.

While this research represents a huge leap forward in synthetic biology, it raises several legal and ethical questions.  In particular, questions over intellectual property (“Can anyone own a lifeform?”) and ethics (“Is it ethical to create new species?”) will surely be debated for years into the future.

Original news story from Science can be found here.

Alex B. Berezow is a microbiology Ph.D. candidate at the University of Washington.

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May 02 2010

Genetics and Forensics – FOSEP discussion

Category: Uncategorized — Elaine Hillenmeyer @ 8:02 pm

Recently we had a FOSEP discussion on the topic of genetics and forensics.  Our speaker was Rori Rholfs, a graduate student in the genome science department.

Genetic evidence is becoming increasingly used in criminal cases for evidence of suspect identification.  Genetic information from criminal cases is stored in a national database called the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), run by the FBI.  According to the FBI website, the database contains 8,080,941 offender profiles and 311,560 forensic profiles as of March 2010.  The criteria for offender genetic information being entered into the database varies from state to state and district to district.  In some locations, information is entered into the database if a person is convicted of a felony.  In other locations, being charged with a felony is grounds for entering a person’s genetic information into the database.  According to the same FBI website, CODIS has produced over 114,300 hits assisting in more than 112,300 investigations.

However, there can be several issues that make DNA identification less foolproof than it may sometimes appear in CSI.  If a sample is damaged, it is possible that not all the genetic information will be present.  There might also be situations where a sample is not a direct match with a suspect, but a partial match.  This indicates that someone related to the suspect might have left the sample.  To determine how likely the match is, assumptions must be made about the race of the person.  If a wrong assumption is made, this can greatly increase the false positive rate of a match.  For example, if you assume that your suspect and sample source are African American and in fact they are Navajo, your false positive rate is around 40% (far above the assumed 5%).

For genetic information to be used appropriately, juries must know the level of certainty of a genetic match.

Apr 26 2010

Course Review – COM 220 Public Speaking

Category: Communication, Education — Andy McMillan @ 11:15 pm

If you’ve walked across Red Square on campus here at UW during finals week you might have seen people giving speeches on a variety of topics, and this last quarter you might have even come across me speaking about the importance of science in our society. These speeches were the culmination of the COM 220 Public Speaking course taught by Matt McGarrity.

I enrolled in this course after being advised by my thesis committee to improve my presentation skills, and while some aspects were helpful for speaking in general, the style of speeches we were making ended up fitting more with my interests with FOSEP than with my scientific work.

The course consisted of Monday, Wednesday, and Friday lectures that went over content like rhetorical techniques and structure as well as viewing examples of speeches. Then Tuesday and Thursday had smaller sections where we would get to apply this instruction to our own speeches. We also had access to the “speaking center” where we could practice our speech with TAs or students who had taken the class before and get feedback and be video taped for viewing at home.

We only had three different speeches with the complexity of the expectations increasing for each one. This limited number of separate talks meant a fair amount of time was spent preparing for each one, which I certainly appreciated and benefited from the opportunity to give the same speech over a period of time and get plenty of feedback.

The first speech was an impromptu speech, where were given two randomly chosen issues and had 6 minutes to prepare a short speech arguing for or against one of these two positions. While the speeches tended to be slightly formulaic in order to be composed in such limited time, it served as a good exercise in learning how to quickly organize my thoughts and layout a coherent argument.

The second speech was a persuasive speech on a topic of our choice – with the restriction that it hard to be some issue that was being considered as a university policy or at one of the levels of government applicable to us and at least some members of our class had to be opposed to our position but open to being convinced. In my case, beginning to read Tomorrow’s Table inspired me to argue against proposed requirements for labeling genetically engineered food products. I found the most difficult part of this was adjusting to shorter time requirements than I’m used to having for a presentation. While this reflected the time constraints of the course, I found it good practice to have to distill a complex topic into a few important points.

The final speech was given on Red Square where we had to advocate for some position, for many people this involved modifying their persuasive speech to appeal to a different type of audience, though I felt like going a little broader – plus it gave me an excuse to plug FOSEP to people who may not have come across us before. This speech was the most different from what I’m used to, and I often found myself needing to remind myself of Randy Olson’s advice to “Don’t Be Such a Scientist”. The outdoor environment also imposed it’s own unique challenges, but it was pretty satisfying to see a few people stop and listen during my speech.

While some of the course material was a little basic (it is an undergrad 200 level course after all) I still got a lot out of the opportunity to spend time being able to focus on my speaking ability and give a different type of talk than a series of slides about my research. Overall I found this course to have been a very worthwhile experience, and would recommend it for those who have an opportunity to take it.

Apr 18 2010

UW Scientists Share their Work at Paws on Science

Category: Communication, Education, Events — Kate @ 8:35 pm

Eric

Last weekend, the University of Washington and Pacific Science Center teamed up for the Paws on Science Weekend.  Several FOSEP members took part to share their scientific research with attendees, most of which were families with children. Two of my colleagues, Dawn, and Laura, and I made a hands on activity to teach people about proteins focusing on structure function relationships.  It consisted of 6 foot long rubber tubes surrounding copper wires that could be bent into folded “proteins.” By following a few basic chemistry rules–most importantly the hydrophobic effect in which proteins fold to hide their hydrophobic “water fearing” sidechains inside, while the hydrophilic “water loving” sidechains are situated on the outside of the protein exposed to water–people folded their own proteins. For the older kids we added electrostatic interactions or “mutations” which would result in a new protein fold. We had a lot of fun with the activity, and I think we interested at least a few people in how the shape of a protein in your own body is important for its function to keep you alive and healthy.  Plus the kids (and adults!) had fun playing with the much much MUCH larger than life “proteins.”

There were two other FOSEP member stations doing Paws on Science outreach.  Eric from the Department of Astronomy had a really cool demonstration about detecting planets that move in front of stars. The kids loved it.  Brad from the Department of Chemistry had a really neat station about solar cells with actual machines and lights running on solar power.

I think the event was as much a learning experience for the scientists as for the kids. Most of the participating scientists took free workshops organized by Pacific Science Center experts on how to best communicate science to a general audience of every age. I learned first-hand how difficult it can be to explain science to non-scientists without using jargon. My friend, Phil, once said that if you can’t explain your science to an 8 year old, then you probably don’t know it well enough yourself.  I certainly got some good practice this weekend and had a lot of fun at the same time.

Brad

Apr 15 2010

Upcoming FOSEP Seminar: Michael Webber

Category: Communication, Events, Policy — Sara @ 11:15 pm

Michael Webber discusses

“The Intersection of Engineering, Energy and Public Policy”

Please join FOSEP in welcoming our invited guest-speaker, Michael Webber (all the way from the University of Texas, Austin), to discuss his work examining the nexus of energy and food policy (and other funny stories in American energy policy).

Date: Monday, April 26th

Time: 10:30am

Location: UW Campus; Savery Hall, Room 264 (click here for Savery Hall location)

Michael Webber is the Associate Director of the Center for International Energy and Environmental Policy in the Jackson School of Geosciences, Co-Director of the Clean Energy Incubator at the Austin Technology Incubator, Fellow of the Strauss Center for International Security and Law at the LBJ School of Public Affairs, and Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin.  Through his outreach and teaching endeavors, Webber’s research group (Webber Energy Group ) focuses on energy policy in a variety of facets including: alternative and sustainable energy sources, biofuels, transportation, and water policy.  His expertise has been sought globally.  In fact, Webber has given testimony for a hearing of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources committee, a lecture at the United Nations, and briefings for chief executives at some of the nation’s leading companies.

Michael is one of the originators of the Pecan Street Project (http://pecanstreetproject.org/) which is a citywide, multi-institutional effort in Austin to create the electricity and water utilities of the future by the innovation and implementation of smart grids, smart meters, and smart appliances.  He has also served as a board member for the Hope Street Group (http://www.hopestreetgroup.org) which is a non-profit bi-partisan national organization for young professionals interested in promoting policies that expand opportunity and economic growth.  Webber’s expertise, opinions and research have been featured in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, USA Today, NPR, PBS, The Daily Telegraph, BBC, ABC, CBS, Discovery, Scientific American, Popular Mechanics, MSNBC, Nature Geoscience, and Earth Magazine.

Just a few days after Earth Day, this seminar should offer a breath of fresh air and insightful ideas relating to U.S. energy policy and the future of energy sustainability in the 21st century.

Discussion to follow, starting around 11:30am.  Email fosep@uw.edu for more information.

Apr 15 2010

Toby Smith to speak on The Current Political Climate for Science and Technology Policy

Category: Communication, Events, Policy — Kate @ 6:16 pm

FOSEP is very happy to host Toby Smith.

Tuesday April 27th

10 am

Health Science Building HSB K-wing, room K-069 (that’s on the bottom floor of K-wing down the stairs just southwest of the Rotunda Cafe).

This seminar is sponsored in part by The Cell and Molecular Biology Training Grant.

As Vice President for Policy at the AAU, an organization of 62 leading research universities, Tobin (Toby) Smith has developed and coordinated legislative and executive branch strategies across a wide range of science policy issues. Toby currently oversees and coordinates AAU’s policy activities. He also is responsible for issues relating to innovation, competitiveness and energy and shares responsibility for matters of openness and security, technology commercialization and research costs. Toby has written and spoken widely on science policy issues and is the co-author of a book on national science policy published by the University of Michigan Press titled  Beyond Sputnik – U.S. Science Policy in the 21st Century.

Toby is the perfect person to hear about what’s going on in D.C. recently, including how things have changed with the current congress and presidential administration, the outlook on science funding, and how scientists and universities can play a role in science policy, including the best ways to communicate with policy makers.

Join us for a talk and discussion of these topics and more Tuesday, April 27th, at 10am on the UW campus, in HSB, K-wing, room K-069. For a campus map of HSB K-wing, click here.

Refreshments will be served starting at 9:30am.

Apr 11 2010

A glimpse into the Engage seminar

Category: Uncategorized — Phil @ 10:33 pm

We’re wrapping up our “pilot” season of talks for the Engage: The Science Speaker Series. The other organizers and I are really excited about how much advertising and support we’ve received, articles written about the series and on individual talks, facebook posts, and posts to lots of email lists. Really cool!

So to entice some FOSEP members to spread the word about the class (and even sign up for it themselves when it becomes available), I thought I’d post some ideas that we’ll be working into the fall seminar.

(Just so we’re all on the same page: Those who take the seminar will create an engaging 30 minute talk about their own research with their own visualizations and analogies. The talks will be showcased next winter-spring in the next Engage: The Science Speaker Series. Each talk ends (as they currently do) with an open ended sesson for questions. This part is where we seem to engage the most with the audience.

We’ll also be taping the talks to post online and for the seminar students to have for their own professional development purposes!)

Ira Glass on Storytelling

And RadioLab on how they spruce up research: Making the Hippo Dance

Mar 29 2010

National Biometric Identification Card

Category: Policy — Alex B. Berezow @ 12:01 am

Sens. Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) are working together to create a national identification card with biometric technology.  The purpose of the card will be to curb illegal immigration.  Because all citizens will be required to carry one, employers will have no excuse to hire illegal immigrants.

Predictably, privacy advocates are already up in arms over the proposal.  According to the article (see link above), one of the major objections is that the government will be able to track citizens.  However, this concern makes little sense in today’s digitized world.  If you use a credit card, debit card, or cell phone, the government can already track you wherever you go.

The biometric data, undoubtedly, will also cause a stir.  Early indications about the bill (which is still being developed in the Senate) seem to show that the biometric data will either be a fingerprint or a scan of the veins on the back of one’s hand.  I assume that if DNA was the biometric of choice, this issue would go from controversial to downright explosive.  Fortunately, that probably won’t be the case.

In an age of globalization and terrorism, it may be time for the United States to implement a national ID card.  At the very least, it’s time to have this discussion.  Hopefully it goes better than the health care discussion.

Alex B. Berezow is a microbiology Ph.D. candidate at the University of Washington.

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