Inspiring the Next Generation of Scientists – RAWC Lab Outreach

A mission of the Willand-Charnley Lab, also known as the RAWC Lab, is to make contributions toward the development of the next generation of scientists.

One avenue this is achieved by in the RAWC Lab is via undergraduate research. Another, more subtle, avenue is via outreach into the community. Currently, Rachel Willand-Charnley is a science communications fellow through South Dakota EPSCoR.

South Dakota Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research “promotes and supports educators, research faculty and programs in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.” Willand-Charnley is currently developing free curriculum aimed to enhance resources for STEM teachers. The activities being developed specifically are designed to help K-12 educators implement inquiry-based learning experiences that will ultimately facilitate interest in K-12 students to pursue STEM careers (STEM Education Portal).

The RAWC Lab Attends Meet a Scientist Event

The RAWC Lab recently participated in Meet a Scientist at the Discovery Center as a Science Communication Fellow. This outreach event entailed teaching grade-schoolers about the exciting research that is being performed at the major research institutions around the state. Students participated in learning about making robots from simple household materials, how cancer mimics healthy cells to avoid the immune system, played Plinko to learn how nanomedicine works (see Aaron Reinke’s lab for more information), plant biology and acid-base chemistry.