WASHINGTON, DC SCIENCE TEACHER WINS TRAVEL AWARD TO SOCIETY FOR NEUROSCIENCE 36TH ANNUAL MEETING IN ATLANTA, GA
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NR-09-06 (10/11/06) For more information, please call Sara Harris at (202) 962-4000 or sharris@sfn.org.
WASHINGTON, DC SCIENCE TEACHER WINS TRAVEL AWARD TO SOCIETY FOR NEUROSCIENCE 36TH ANNUAL MEETING IN ATLANTA, GA
WASHINGTON, DC, October 11 - A local educator is one of 10 international award recipients recognized for their commitment and innovative approach to bringing neuroscience into the classroom.
Elyse Lerum, a ninth-grade biology teacher at Alice Deal Junior High School, received a Neuroscientist-Teacher Partner Travel Award to attend Neuroscience 2006, the 36th annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, to be held in Atlanta, Ga., October 14-18.
She organized the first ever Brain Awareness Week at her school. The yearly event is conducted worldwide by neuroscience educators to help increase and advance public awareness about brain research and inspire future neuroscientists.
With the assistance of Society for Neuroscience President Dr. Stephen Heinemann, who visited Ms. Lerum's class and spoke to her students, she was able to teach them more about the brain and pursuing a career in science.
"Heinemann's visit offered a unique opportunity for students to have cutting-edge research presented at a level accessible to them," she explains. Heinemann also participated in a round table discussion with the students. "This setting helped them to realize the paths and opportunities open to them to pursue education and training in scientific research," says Lerum.
Roughly 30,000 scientists from around the world will attend Neuroscience 2006 to present and discuss the latest advances in neuroscience research. The meeting will feature more than 14,000 presentations covering topics ranging from stem cell research to basic human behavior.
"I am excited to experience a scientific gathering of such magnitude and the opportunities it will afford me to interact with those conducting research," Lerum says. "I hope to share the energy and excitement of the gathering with my students to help them realize that they too can help us continue to learn more about the brain."
In addition to receiving unlimited access to the meeting's thousands of sessions and forums, the awardees have been invited to attend a number of special events. Lerum and the other award recipients will also be honored at a gathering of the Society's Public Education and Communication Committee, which represents educational advocates from among the Society's membership.
The goal of the award program is to further partnerships between research and educational communities by bringing them together at a premier scientific meeting. "The travel award program is an example of the Society's commitment to explaining basic scientific processes -- how research leads to discovery and how discovery leads to treatments, cures and healthy choices at all stages in life," says Society for Neuroscience Public Education Director Colleen McNerney. "This program provides encouragement and visibility to the Society's members to embrace and contribute to this work, demonstrating the value of scientist and teachers working in partnership."
The Society for Neuroscience, with more than 37,500 members, is the largest organization of researchers and clinicians studying the brain and nervous system.
