ATE Impacts 2020-2021

Biotechnology Unified Education Network of Opportunities (BUENO) Texas Southmost College, B rownsville, TX http://ate.is/bueno BUENO Builds Biotech Career Paths in Lower Rio Grande Va lley BUENO uses existing ties between the college, local school dis­ tricts, industry, and other groups to build a network that prepares a high-quality workforce for the growing biotechnology industry in Texas. As the first biotechnology program in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, the project is developing clear career paths for students. BUENO teaches middle and high school teachers biotechnology techniques, such as bacterial transformation, to use in their classrooms. In its first 13 months BUENO held two workshops for teachers, infused introductory biology labs with bio­ technology, and offered biotechnology camps for middle and high school students. Through these activities almost 100 students in college-level classes and more than 150 middle and high school students learned how to do DNA extractions, bacterial transformations, column chromatography, electrophoresis, and the diagnostic assay ELISA. Building New Pathways to Biotechnology Careers Madison Area Technical College, Madison, WI https://ate.is/matccures Project Offers Experientia l Learning Oppor tunities During its first year, the Building New Pathways to Biotechnology Careers project developed and implemented • course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) in biology; • an "open lab" for mentored research; • a new internship program for liberal arts transfer students; and • industry-informed digital badges to assess and document student mastery of key bioscience skills. Offering CUREs, internships, digital badges, and the new certificate program to the liberal arts transfer students-who are currently not in the biotechnology or bioscience career pipeline-improved their engagement and retention rates, and increased their skill acquisition. All activities aim to increase the number of skilled biotechnicians. Students explore various research questions with faculty mentors in the open lab funded by the project.