Contact: Robbie Ward
STARKVILLE, Miss.--Twenty-nine educators from Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, and Tennessee are graduates of the 2009 Bioinformatics Workshop at Mississippi State.
Funded by the National Science Foundation, the recent weeklong program exposed classroom leaders to the latest scientific equipment with the ultimate goal of improving their students' knowledge of and appreciation for the computational sciences and biotechnology. Science, mathematics and technology instructors at the junior high school-university levels were eligible to attend.
Focusing on the emerging fields of computational biology and human physiology modeling, the curriculum was developed by the NSF's Office of Experimental Programs to Stimulate Competitive Research and National Institutes of Health's Human Genome Project, said associate professor Giselle Thibaudeau, the MS-EPSCoR education/outreach coordinator.
Thibaudeau, also director of MSU's Electron Microscope Center, said the teachers learned, among other things, to isolate, amplify and transcribe their own DNA.
"Engaging in hands-on experiences increases awareness of and excitement for these developing scientific fields and better prepares teachers to implement activities in the classroom and share the excitement of science with their students," Thibaudeau said.
Research and education faculty members leading the workshop were members of the Mississippi Research Consortium, which includes MSU, Jackson State University, the universities of Mississippi and Southern Mississippi, and Bio-Rad Laboratories in California.
The 2009 Mississippi-EPSCoR Bioinformatics Workshop class included (by hometown):
BAILEY--Renee Daugherty, a teacher at West Lauderdale High School.
BROOKHAVEN--Linda N. Smith, an instructor at Copiah-Lincoln Community College.
BROOKSVILLE--Emily Cade, a teacher at Louisville High School.
COLUMBUS--Chrystal R. Bradley, a teacher at Batesville Junior High School.
CRYSTAL SPRINGS--Nikeith Brown, a teacher at East Webster Elementary School.
EUPORA--Carol Bright, a teacher at East Webster Elementary.
GLEN ALLAN--Nancy D. McClain, a teacher at Greenville Weston High School.
GREENVILLE--Mary "Ellie" Counseller, a teacher at Riverside High School.
HAMILTON--Mechelle Welch, a teacher at Hamilton School.
HOLLY SPRINGS--Monica H. Govan, a teacher at Holly Springs High School.
JACKSON--Vivian L. Smith [39206], a teacher at the Mississippi School for the Deaf.
LONG BEACH--Fran Marchette, an instructor at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College.
MABEN--Diana Edwards, a teacher at East Webster High School, and Tyler Gray, a teacher at Eupora High School.
MADISON--Carol Ann Drane, a teacher at Canton Career Center.
MEMPHIS, Tenn.--Michael Harrell [38116], a teacher at Rosa Fort High School in Tunica [Miss.].
MOBILE, Ala.--Patricia A. Harford [36695], a teacher at Murphy High School.
NATCHEZ--Delilah Mitchell, a teacher at Natchez High School.
NEW ALBANY--Scott McCord, a teacher at North Pontotoc High School.
PEARL RIVER, La.--Pamela Douglas, a teacher at Biloxi [Miss.] Junior High School.
PHEBA--Joy H. Walker, a teacher at Eupora High School.
PORT GIBSON--Trophia Robinson, a teacher at Jefferson County High School.
PULASKI--Lori P. Nail, a teacher at Northeast Rankin High School.
SARDIS--Diana D. White, a teacher at South Panola High School.
SENATOBIA--Tonya Gay Briggs, a teacher at Hernando Middle School.
SMITHVILLE--Darlene Rutledge, a teacher at Smithville High School.
STARKVILLE--Ellen Williams (no school listed).
STURGIS--Susie Wall, a teacher at Starkville Academy.
WESSON--Diana D. White, a teacher at Enterprise Attendance Center.
LOCAL EDITORS: For more information, contact Dr. Thibaudeau at 662-325-3017 or Giselle@emcenter.msstate.edu.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.