Felix Lui

LABORATORY INVESTIGATIONS WITH MODEL ORGANISMS (LIMO) PROGRAM. Felix Lui¹, Susan Flowers², Biology Department, Washington University, St. Louis, MO¹; Science Outreach, Washington University, St. Louis, MO.²

There is an escalating urgency in the need for diversity in the scientific and academic setting. Previous outreach programs at Washington University have shown that placing ill-equipped students in an advanced research lab setting often leaves the student stagnantly stranded amidst the busy happenings of the lab, unable to make significant gains in knowledge or bench skills. The Laboratory Investigations with Model Organisms (LIMO) Program was designed as a departure from this ineffective model, placing young scientists together in a teaching lab with a scientist mentor/instructor. The goal of my summer project was to simulate a real research lab experience, while providing the necessary individual support and direction that a big lab may not be able to optimally provide.

A group of eight minority students from three St. Louis area high schools were selected from a cohort already participating in a WU partnership program. They embarked upon a six-week experience in scientific inquiry, beginning with training for basic lab skills and safety. The students were divided into three groups, each working on a specific research question on a different model organism. The three model organisms chosen for study included the zebrafish (Danio rerio), the soil nematode (Caernorhaditis elegans), and yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae). Weekly journal clubs were facilitated to discuss recent articles related to their research. At the end of each week, lab meetings were held for project updates and group troubleshooting and brainstorming. During the program, the students had the opportunity to tour the WU Genome Sequencing Center, the animal facility, the greenhouse, and a research lab working with Drosophila. As a final product, the groups created posters and PowerPoint presentations to display their findings. The program also indulged in the current wave of genomic science by incorporating activities from a genomics curriculum unit currently under development within WU Science Outreach.

Program evaluations and feedback from the individual students came back encouragingly strong. Self-assessment on skill proficiency indicated a strong learning curve in skill acquisition for all students at the conclusion of the program. Assessment tools will be used to further analyze the various strengths and weaknesses of the curriculum implemented, and insights from this summer will help pave the way for future WU research and outreach programs.