BIOME INSTITUTE 2023
Igniting IDEAS: Inclusive, Diverse, Equitable, and Accessible Communities in STEM Communities
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Virtual BIOME Institute: July 10-14, 2023
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Additional In-Person Community Camp (optional): July 24-27, 2023
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Fall Working Groups: September - November 2023
Please note that we have extended the deadline to apply to our 2023 BIOME Institute until Friday, April 14!
We're so excited to connect with our community, support your work and ideas, and facilitate connections. Enjoy this BIOME 2023 special issue of the Community Spotlight series, and please consider applying to participate, presenting your work, and helping us spread the word!
The 2023 BIOME Institute will create bridges connecting existing and newly created communities of practice and ignite new collaborations. The BioQUEST Community will share knowledge of the creation of learning environments where educators and learners don’t just survive, but thrive. Participants will gain a deeper understanding of the work that has been done by others and how they can accelerate a change in STEM education with IDEAS (Inclusivity, Diversity, Equitability, and Accessibility).
Community goals:
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Learn from others and work to accelerate change in STEM education with IDEAS.
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Building bridges between groups from different disciplines that are implementing inclusive and accessible pedagogical practices, including Open Education Resources (OER)
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Build new norms for collaboration and connection across BioQUEST Partner Projects.
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Prioritize areas of action to be taken together to help to bend the arc towards justice in STEM communities.
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Strengthening our community of committed, enthusiastic educators at all levels.
Important Links
Learn more about this year’s unique offerings below:
The BIOME Institute 2023 will focus on creating inclusive learning environments that empower and engage all students. We’ll also be exploring how inclusive teaching practices can extend into our professional networks and groups. The Institute begins with our standard slate of virtual programming (July 10-14) and continues into the fall with small working groups. Bonus this year is Community Camp, an optional in-person event (July 24-27), that will occur between the regular BIOME Institute and the Fall Working Groups. Learn more about each below!
2023 Format Details
The Virtual BIOME Institute
The Virtual BIOME Institute (July 10-14 2023) will follow a similar structure to BIOME 2022. During the week, participants will come together every morning for a welcome session, followed by interactive workshops, keynote presentations, and WIPs / Poster & Beyond sessions. Participants will be assigned discussion bunch groups which will meet daily to connect and debrief the presentations. Apply just for the virtual week, or consider coming to Community Camp as well! Learn more here.
Additional In-Person Community Camp — come for S'MORE fun!
The optional in-person week 2 Community Camp (July 24-27, 2023) at the University of New Hampshire (UNH) is an opportunity for groups and participants to move their projects forward while consulting with other projects and BioQUEST staff. Participants will arrive on Monday and meet one another before diving into different group activities Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Our partner groups are highly encouraged to attend as this will have opportunities to address key issues like building community around their work, effective dissemination, and sustainability, while also building bridges and fostering collaboration across our community. Learn more here.
2023 Agenda Sneak Peaks
BIOME 2023 Keynotes
We are excited to bring two keynote speakers to virtual BIOME 2023 to share their work around topics of IDEAS and how they contribute to building STEM communities. On Monday, Dr. Zakiya Wilson-Kennedy from LSU will join us and speak from their experience teaching Chemistry and as the Dean for Diversity and Inclusion in the College of Science. On Friday, Dr. Brett Woods from Salem College will speak from their experience working with underrepresented minority students in STEM at HPU. Learn more here.
Anticipated Presenters
Each year, we bring together over 10 groups to share their work, and how it relates to this year’s BIOME meeting theme. Here is a sneak peek at a few groups we are anticipating to be present to share their project materials during Virtual BIOME:
For more information on groups that presented last year, check out the BIOME 2022 group page. Want to join in the fun? Apply to present your work today! Learn more about the 2023 program here.
Connecting to 2022
Once we have sparked IDEAS around supporting effective reform, the fall working groups provide an opportunity to engage with like-minded colleagues and work through the challenges of implementing new ideas in the classroom based on participants’ interests. Many working groups discuss ideas related to the theme of BIOME for that year. As we expand on topics from Sparking IDEAS in STEM Classrooms to Igniting IDEAS in STEM Communities, we encourage you to check out publications from working groups in 2022. The materials published are anticipated to be discussed further in our conversations this year.
