MISSOURI PARTNERS IN NEUROSCIENCE EDUCATION WIN AWARD TO 37TH SOCIETY FOR NEUROSCIENCE MEETING IN SAN DIEGO
For immediate release.
NR-32-07 (10/31/07) For more information, please call DeeDee Clendenning at (202) 962-4000 or dclendenning@sfn.org
MISSOURI PARTNERS IN NEUROSCIENCE EDUCATION WIN AWARD
TO 37TH SOCIETY FOR NEUROSCIENCE MEETING IN SAN DIEGO
Rona Robinson-Hill, a science teacher at McKinley Classical Junior Academy in St. Louis, Mo., and Fernanda Laezza, PhD, of Washington University in St. Louis, have received a Neuroscientist-Teacher partner Travel Award to attend the Society for Neuroscience (SfN) annual meeting in San Diego, Calif., November 3-7.
This partnership program in neuroscience of one neuroscientist and one teacher, sponsored by SfN, recognizes 13 pairs for their commitment and innovative approach to bringing neuroscience into the classroom.
Since 2002, Robinson-Hill and Laezza have worked together in the neuroscience research field as a participant in the Young Scientist Program, which is designed to attract high school students and middle and high school teachers from underrepresented and diverse backgrounds into research laboratories at Washington University. Robinson-Hill has collaborated with Laezza in molecular biology lab work-gaining new skills that she has incorporated in new curricula for her students.
As part of the Young Scientist Program Laezza has visited Robinson-Hill's classroom assisting with science enrichment experiments, providing hands-on research experience to Robinson-Hill's students.
"Attending the meeting is a great opportunity for me to learn how I can better integrate relevant information from the meeting into my classroom, which is an urban setting for gifted multi-cultural students," says Robinson-Hill. "I would like to design a curriculum so that students can research and study neuroscience using cutting edge research practices."
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. Robinson-Hill, Laezza, and the other educators will also be honored at a meeting of SfN's Public Education and Communication Committee.
The goal of the award is to further partnerships between research and educational communities. "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 scientists and teachers working in partnership."
Roughly 30,000 scientists from around the world will attend SfN's annual meeting to present and discuss the latest advances in neuroscience research. The meeting will feature more than 16,400 presentations covering topics ranging from stem cell research to basic human behavior.
The Society for Neuroscience, with more than 38,000 members, is the largest organization of researchers and clinicians studying the brain and nervous system.
