Biophysical Society Newsletter | August 2017

11

BIOPHYSICAL SOCIETY NEWSLETTER

2017

AUGUST

Saturday Morning Biophysics: Image Life!

ing the Bryan/College Station campus. Trache’s interdisciplinary training and research have also influenced the program design. A traditionally trained physicist with a background in optics and spectroscopy, Trache transitioned to vascular cell physiology research during her postdoctoral training. Her research uses tools from the physi- cal sciences to study fundamental biophysical concepts at the cellular level, such as adaption of vascular cells to mechanical stimuli. Reflecting her interdisciplinary approach, the lectures and hands-on activities span a variety of topics across several disciplines as biophysics, medicine, and engineering. Initiated as part of Trache’s NSF CAREER Award, Saturday Morning Biophysics: Image Life! continues to be funded beyond the grant life by Trache’s academic unit, the College of Medicine and Department of Medical Physiology at the Texas A&M University Health Science Center.

Empowering Future Generations of Women Scientists

Recruiting a diverse pool of students, especially women and those from underrepresented groups, to pursue STEM careers is a broadly recognized challenge. Andreea Trache works to address this challenge by captivating the interest of middle- and high-school girls with the outreach program Saturday Morning Biophysics: Image Life! This program introduces students to current research topics in the physical and life sciences by stimu- lating their interest in biophysics and science in general. In addition to communicating the excite- ment of biophysics research, the program provides information on career paths in STEM research. Designed for general audiences, the program offers an educational and a social component. For the educational component, a diverse pool of Texas A&M faculty and students discuss their research in easy-to-understand multimedia presentations. These lectures are accompanied by interactive hands-on activity sessions to reinforce the scientific concepts presented during the talks. The social component of the program introduces the graduate student role model. Graduate student speakers not only discuss their research, but also talk about their personal journeys as they navigate their scientific careers. This is a popular segment of the program with both students and parents alike, as the speakers highlight their accomplish- ments and discuss their decisions, challenges, and lessons learned along the way. These engaging discussions give the attendees a realistic glimpse of life in college and beyond. The development of this program was inspired by Trache’s passion for promoting women into science and engineering and also giving back to the community. To date, the program has been attended by 350 middle- and high-school girls and 70 adults (parents and teachers) from 11 different towns located in the rural Texas area surround-

This year the Saturday Morning Bio- physics: Image Life! program cele- brates its tenth year. The program was started to motivate future generations of women to consider STEM careers, but along the way it has inspired and touched all of the faculty, students, and staff who have volunteered to make this program a success. The Biophysical Society plans to work with Trache by contributing a lesson plan and wooden microscopes donated to the Society by Echo Labs/Chroma for a Saturday Morning session this fall. Teachers participating in the program will bring the microscopes back to their classrooms. We hope the work being done by Trache will inspire oth-

The student observes the structure of fruit fly ( Drosophila melanogaster ) at high magnification using a light microscope.

ers to participate in and develop programs to reach and inspire the next generation of biophysicists. To learn more about Saturday Morning Biophys- ics: Image Life!, visit the program’s website at: https://research.tamhsc.edu/trache/outreach/.