Since its establishment in 2020, the Husky Science Communication Initiative (HuSCI) has brought together scientists from the University of Washington, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, and Seattle Children’s Research Institute who are passionate about scientific outreach and equity. These students and staff have been integral to the HuSCI mission of helping young students from diverse backgrounds build scientific curiosity and maintain an interest in STEM subjects. This winter, in partnership with Denny International Middle School and teacher Jordyn Jackson, HuSCI held a school-wide Meet-A-Scientist assembly for 811 students in grades 6th through 8th. Our speakers - Jasmine Villegas (bioengineering graduate student at UW), Ashi Jain (research technician at SCRI), and LuLu Callies (MCB graduate student at SCRI) - spoke to the students about their journeys into science. Topics included the Running Start program, financing your college education, and the various paths you can take to conduct scientific research. The students also had the opportunity to ask the speakers questions and learn more about their life experiences or research projects.
Following the assembly, we returned to Denny International Middle School for an in-class visit to the 7th-grade science classes. This was our 5th in-class visit to the middle school, where we guided the students through a hands-on, hypothesis-based scientific activity related to their current curriculum. With the help of committee member Genevieve Kunis, who designed the lesson plan, and our 13 volunteers, we simulated the transmission of an infectious disease. We performed contact tracing in an activity titled Finding Patient Zero. As a class, we evaluated the evidence of who became “sick” and successfully determined the origin of disease transmission. Throughout the activity, the volunteers helped the students rationalize their decisions and map the pathway of transmission. We discussed the difficulty of tracking disease with asymptomatic cases and asked the students how it related to their own experiences with the COVID-19 pandemic. During this event, we taught 10 classes and a total of 220 students. Alongside our work at Denny, we also participated in a STEM night at Echo Lake Elementary in Shoreline, where we demonstrated various scientific techniques to students and their families. In total, 376 students attended the STEM night, and HuSCI volunteers helped teach the students how to operate a micropipette, view microscope slides, and perform color chromatography. The micropipettes were generously loaned from the Science Education Partnership (SEP) office at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, and additional materials were purchased with funds kindly granted by DLMP JEDI.
We are also excited to announce a new collaboration with Seattle Central College (SCC). While our efforts have previously focused on elementary and middle school students, we are now extending our reach to local community colleges, an effort headed by graduate students Aya Miyaki (M3D) and Artem Yashchenko (MCB). We are partnering with Dr. Mark Ainsworth, a biology instructor at SCC, to introduce his students to the exciting world of STEM careers. Started by proud alumni of SCC and once students of Dr. Ainsworth, we believe that by sharing our experiences and insights, we can inspire and empower these students to explore careers in science and research. Our goal is to provide them with a clearer understanding of the opportunities available in STEM fields and to encourage them to pursue their passions. In the upcoming months, HuSCI will participate in our first SCC outreach event with Dr. Ainsworth. Additionally, we will return to Denny International Middle School for an in-class visit to the 8th-grade science classrooms and participate in John Rogers Elementary Science Night.
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