|
For the next few months, we’ll start each newsletter with a message from BioQUEST staff and volunteers--a way for the QUBES community to get to know us, if you don’t already!
Dear Community,
We are thrilled to be stewarding the BioQUEST and QUBES community through a transition that expands our community and our impact on STEM education reform. Amidst this growth and change, our core commitment stays the same: to provide support, professional development, and community that truly transforms the experiences of students in STEM. If you are new to BioQUEST, welcome!
The BioQUEST community has meant so much to me—ever since I attended my first workshop as a graduate student! BioQUEST has boosted me up, supported me in my advancement, and made me a better educator and scholar. We’re so excited to be engaging with an even wider audience and hope you will reach out to us with ideas, questions, and ways we can help you.
Sincerely,
Sarah Prescott, PhD
Executive Director, BioQUEST
Associate Professor, University of New Hampshire
P.S.
If you’re coming across this newsletter on our website, you can subscribe here to keep in touch!
In this newsletter:
BioQUEST News
QUBES Corner
Partner News and Opportunities
Other Opportunities
BioQUEST News
BioQUEST Launches 13 BIOME Working Groups, 4 FMNs and 2 QB@CC Incubators
Like all of you, BioQUEST has started a busy semester! We are so excited to be launching 13 working groups that came out of the 2021 BIOME Institute, four Faculty Mentoring Networks, and two incubators.
Led by organizers from the community, with the guidance of our staff, these groups will be exploring a variety of topics of interest and importance to the group members, including but not limited to implementing materials in classrooms, examining reform possibilities in their teaching, and finding creative ways to engage students. Just glancing at this year’s themes, we can see that the groups’ work will contribute to more inclusive, accessible, relevant, innovative, and engaging learning experiences for our students.
We’re so excited to follow the community's progress--and we’ll share final products in December! Stay tuned.
Congratulations to Deb Rook, Sam Donovan, Drew LaMar on New Positions in BioQUEST
We’re very excited to announce new positions for three BioQUEST/QUBES veterans :
-
 Deb Rook, PhD, who has been managing BIOQUEST and QUBES professional development opportunities for the last 4 years, has been promoted to Deputy Director of BioQUEST. While continuing to manage our professional development, Deb will assist the directors with overseeing day-to-day operations of the organization, from building community and partnerships to working to extend BioQUEST’s reach in STEM education reform. Congratulations, Deb!
-
 Sam Donovan, PhD, longtime BioQUESTer and co-PI of the QUBES project, is officially joining the BioQUEST staff as the Director of Outreach and Strategic Engagement. He’ll be working on long term planning for the organization--exploring new partnerships and opportunities--as well as strengthening and building our community. Feel free to reach out to Sam with feedback, suggestions, and ideas for how BioQUEST can continue to support undergraduate STEM education reform. Thank you, Sam!
-
 Drew LaMar, PhD, co-PI of the QUBES project, is officially joining BioQUEST as Director of Cyberinfrastructure. He will be overseeing development and maintenance of the QUBEShub infrastructure. Thank you, Drew!
Welcome to Julie Labonte and Katrina Wells
We have two new additions to the BioQUEST staff!!
-
 Julie Labonte joins BioQUEST as our new bookkeeper. Julie lives in Brentwood, NH and serves as a Financial Manager for the City of Dover. She is also a volunteer Firefighter/EMT for Brentwood and Greenland, NH!
-
 Katrina Wells joins the BioQUEST team as project assistant. A 2019 graduate of the biotechnology program from the University of New Hampshire, she resides in Bow, NH and works as a Regulatory Affairs Specialist for tissue-engineered medical products and related technologies at the Advanced Regenerative Manufacturing Institute (ARMI).
Welcome to Katrina and Julie!
Pat Marsteller Honored with William T. Bennett Award from NCSCE
 The William E. Bennett Award for Extraordinary Contributions to Citizen Science was established by NCSCE and named in honor of its first recipient for his lifetime contributions to citizen science. The award is given annually to an individual and a team whose SENCER and other related activities have made exemplary and extraordinary contributions to citizen science and whose work embodies the ideals and aims of SENCER.
This year’s awardees are Gordon Uno and our very own Pat Marsteller, PhD! Congratulations, Pat!
From the award citation: “Pat Marsteller is the recipient of the Bennett team award for her outstanding collaborative work in advancing Social Justice in STEM learning.” Read the full award citation here.
From Pat’s team tribute: “Special thanks are due to former and current leaders of the BioQUEST Curriculum consortium. Beginning with my first meeting with John Jungck, BioQUEST founder, back in the early 90s, I was inspired to join this transformative community. John captured my heart with his three Ps philosophy and his focus on science for all. I worked with BioQUEST in many capacities over the years. Everyone on the staff and board has continued the work of this community of transformation.” Read the full team tribute to BioQUEST, QUBES, and Pat’s many collaborators.
CourseSource is now live on QUBES - Join the group now!
After a LOT of great work and close collaboration, CourseSource, a journal of evidence-based teaching resources for undergraduate biology and physics, now has a new home on QUBES!
You can join the group here to get full access to their incredible library of teaching materials, and to join in the conversation around submission of articles, adaptations of resources, and opportunities to participate in the community. See August’s Community Spotlight for more information about CourseSource!
Partner News and Opportunities
Science Gateways Issues Call for 2021 Community Participation
October 19-21 is planned as an opportunity to influence the vision and mission of the Science Gateways Community Institute (SGCI), the gateways community, and the Gateways Conference series. It will offer diverse options for sharing work and networking in the community. The format includes tutorial sessions, panels, presentations in the form of lightning talks, and working sessions.
The SGCI invites the submission of abstracts related to science gateways, which are end-to-end solutions with easy-to-use interfaces enabling the application of complex research infrastructures such as computing and data infrastructures, instruments, and other domain-specific resources to support research and education. They may also be known as portals, virtual research environments, eScience, virtual labs, eResearch, digital repositories, or research cyberinfrastructure.
All submissions are due on September 22, 2021.
Read more details in the Call for Community Participation.
ASM to Host Two Webinar Series this Fall
 Join the community of educators at American Society for Microbiology for two exciting webinar series. Questions? Contact Rachel Horak.
NEON Seeks Science Engagement Lead
Battelle manages and operates the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) program, which is solely funded by the National Science Foundation. A 30+ year project dedicated to understanding how changes in climate, land use and invasive species impact ecology, the observatory’s scientists and engineers are collecting a comprehensive range of ecological data on a continental scale across 20 eco-climatic domains representing US ecosystems.
Battelle is seeking a Science Engagement Lead for NEON. The envisioned outcome of NEON engagement is transformative scientific discovery based on the long-term continental-scale ecological data, samples, and infrastructure of the Observatory.
The Engagement Lead will strategically focus priorities of NEON engagement and directly participate in the activities, ideally contributing to data skills training. To learn more, visit the job posting.
SIMIODE Opens Registration for SCUDEM
 SIMIODE is now taking registrations for our SIMIODE Challenge Using Differential Equations Modeling (SCUDEM). SCUDEM is a group modeling challenge for students at the undergraduate or high school level. The challenge happens online and if you don't have a group, you can ask to be matched with a group that needs members. The challenge takes place October 23 - November 14, 2021.
Coaches can volunteer with or without their own team. Please volunteer early so you will have lots of time to meet and work with your team prior to the start of the challenge on October 23.
We are also looking for volunteer Judges. Judging will take place November 20 - December 5, 2021.
See the SCUDEM page for more information and to register.
Registration is $20USD for students, and free for students in developing countries. Registration as a Coach or Judge is free.
Applications Open for 2022 HITS Case Fellows
Become a HITS Case Fellow! Faculty and postdoctoral fellows devoted to the use of case studies and problem-based learning pedagogies can apply to become HITS Case Fellows.
The HITS network has the goal of training researchers and educators in data analysis and current trends in high-throughput (HT) experimentation and support the design and implementation of inquiry-based case studies using authentic HT data. The HITS network will train Case Fellows in the use of case studies based on HT data by using a yearly workshop.
Fellows receive:
-
Support to attend summer HITS workshops
-
Stipend
-
Exposure to different high-throughput (HT) approaches and graduate students, faculty, and postdoctoral fellows from different fields.
-
Opportunity to design novel case studies using authentic datasets that can be implemented in a variety of courses.
Case Fellows are expected to attend two summer workshops and participate in monthly virtual check-ins to continue making progress on their cases.
Find more information and the application here.
Other opportunities
Cornell and UN-L Seek Biology Education Postdocs
Researchers at Cornell University, University of Nebraska-Lincoln and University of Maine are seeking two biology education research postdocs. These postdocs will join a multi-institution research team to explore how Open Educational Resources (OERs) have helped the biology community enact Vision and Change principles.
One postdoc will work at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and one postdoc will work at Cornell University.
Learn more about each position in the full announcement.
USD Seeks Faculty in QuantBio and/or Inclusive Pedagogy
The University of San Diego (USD), Department of Biology invites applications for two tenure track faculty positions beginning in September 2022. The department seeks applicants with experience in quantitative biology, broadly defined and/or inclusive pedagogy.
For further details, please visit the job posting: Assistant Professor - Biology
Applications must be submitted by September 24, 2021 for consideration.
For questions regarding the position, please contact: Sue Lowery, Professor and Chair of Biology
UN-L Seeks Participants for Study on Quantitative Biology Instruction
Do you integrate quantitative skills into your biology course?
Researchers at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln are looking for instructors who take different approaches to integrating quantitative skills with biology concepts in their courses to participate in an NSF-funded research project. Examples include working with graphs/formulas, developing quantitative models, or reflecting on the purpose of mathematical models.
Participating instructors will be engaged intermittently over the course of three years and will be compensated $500.
For more details about expectations, please visit our blog announcement, or sign up to participate in the study here. Questions can be directed to Joe Dauer.
Call for Applications for New PULSE Fellows from Community Colleges
The Partnership for Life Sciences Education (PULSE) is soliciting applications from current or former life sciences faculty and/or administrators from community colleges (associate-degree granting institutions) whose background includes a substantial amount of undergraduate teaching. We seek faculty who are passionate about improving STEM teaching and learning at the undergraduate level and have demonstrated leadership or engagement with change efforts. New PULSE Fellows will join a committed group of 55 current PULSE Fellows.
PULSE Fellows are dedicated to supporting departments’ efforts to reform and make ongoing improvements in teaching and learning, and to fostering inclusivity by engaging institutions of all types to reach all students. We seek individuals who have used effective strategies for the educational advancement of students from groups underserved in higher education and who are committed to improving students’ experiences and their ultimate success in STEM.
PULSE recognizes diversity, inclusion and equity as key to our mission. In recruiting new Fellows, we seek to broaden the diversity of our community and welcome members from a variety of demographic and identity groups and with a wide variety of backgrounds who can help our programs be more inclusive, equitable, and effective.
This announcement and more information about PULSE can be found here and a link to the application is here.
Save-the-Date for RCN-UBE Program Webinars and Office Hours
 The RCN-UBE program is hosting two webinars to share information about the program to the scientific community:
October 14, 3:00-4:00pm
October 15, 12:30-1:30pm
In addition, office Hours are on the following dates:
November 12 and 19
December 3, 10, and 17
January 7, 14, and 21.
Links will be available on the RCN-UBE website when it gets close.
|
