Science Education grantee highlights

Science education will inspire the future of science by partnering with organizations who help deliver better programming and/or establish or upgrade labs in underserved schools.

Check out these grantee highlights:

Bay Area Biotechnology Education Consortium (BABEC) – Portable Laboratory Support

The Bay Area Biotechnology Education Consortium (BABEC) was founded in 1996 to address the need for biotechnology education programs in the San Francisco Bay Area schools. With the growth of the biotechnology industry in the 1990s, several forward-thinking and creative high school science teachers came together with the goal of bringing these new technologies into the classroom. Their hope was to prepare a local workforce for this burgeoning industry, and to increase scientific literacy by teaching science in a more direct and hands-on way.

Funds from their most recent grant were applied to the BABEC portable classroom biotechnology kits (including equipment like microtubes, petri dishes, and pipette tips) as well as small lab equipment like water baths and dry heat blocks. These kits and equipment support approximately 80 – 100 high school and community college science teachers, allowing them to inspire a love of science in their students. By purchasing classroom laboratory supplies for the portable classroom kits, BABEC is one step closer to their goal of providing accessible bioscience education to all.

Quench and Connect

Quench and Connect is a non-profit organization located in San Diego, CA, that is dedicated to supporting schools in Uganda. Recognizing that health and good education are primary tools to lift a population out of poverty, the mission of Quench and Connect builds on two pillars: to provide clean safe water to students; and to provide educational tools that will significantly increase the academic achievement of the students. Their goal is to introduce students to science and inspire them to pursue careers in science, technology and health sciences.

Funds from the most recent grant supported St. Matia Mulumba Senior Secondary School in the Kayunga District of Uganda. Teachers then purchased 10 computers, chemical reagents, small laboratory equipment (test tubes, microscopes, anatomical models, Bunsen burners, eye goggles, ammeters, and volumetric glassware) to support teaching biology, chemistry and physics labs. These purchases were made at the shops of local vendors in Kayunga, so the funds also benefitted the local economy. There are approximately 500 students at this high school, and they will all have the opportunity to learn computer science, biology, chemistry and physics.

Breathe DC

Breathe DC is the first District of Columbia non-profit community health organization created to fight all forms of lung disease, especially in communities with health disparities. They are dedicated to making healthy breathing and clean air the norm for everyone who lives, works and raises their families in greater Washington, DC. Through evidence-based community health programs, health education, community partnerships and public policy advocacy, they engage local residents and leaders to form a united front against asthma, smoking, lung cancer, COPD and air pollution.

This project empowers teens to apply STEM education to civic life. Students collect, graph and analyze campus ozone and particulate data quarterly. The project culminates in a student conference where teens propose mitigation strategies to protect their campuses from ozone and particulates.