Jackson Laboratory Receives $749,000 Howard Hughes Education Grant
JAX® NOTES Issue 507, Fall 2007
As part of a $22.5 million national initiative to help improve science education and connect research laboratories with their local communities, The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) has awarded The Jackson Laboratory a 5-year $749,000.00 grant. The grant will fund research internships for high school students, and for prospective and established math and science teachers in Maine.
The HHMI grant supports The Jackson Laboratory's mission to educate members of the research community and the public about its own work and about the work of science in general. To encourage young people to choose science as a career, The Laboratory offers programs for students at every educational level. These include day programs for elementary school students, the Laboratory's historic Summer Student Program (which targets minority and underserved high school and college student populations), and academic-year internships for local high school students. The Laboratory also offers thesis research opportunities for graduate students and a cooperative Ph.D. program with the University of Maine.
During their internships, high school and college students conduct independent research under the guidance of Jackson Laboratory scientists. The teacher internships include research sabbaticals for established teachers and innovative programs for student science teachers wishing to spend a semester obtaining research experience at The Jackson Laboratory while earning a Master of Science in Teaching degree from the University of Maine. University of Maine professors help the student teachers translate their research experience to the classroom. Dr. Jon Geiger, director of The Jackson Laboratory's Education Office, notes that "Young people and mid-career teachers alike are transformed by the experience of actually working on their own cutting-edge research project."
The Jackson Laboratory was one of 31 institutions (from a national pool of 297 eligible institutions) to receive one of the HHMI grants and only one of ten institutions that had their program grants renewed. Other recipients included medical schools, hospitals, research institutions, a school of dentistry, and a school of veterinary medicine. Together, these institutions and HHMI are taking an important step toward enhancing science education at all levels.
This article was adapted from a June 21, 2007, Jackson Laboratory press release.
