Biophysical Society Newsletter | November 2017

6

2017

BIOPHYSICAL SOCIETY NEWSLETTER

NOVEMBER

Of Science and Stability Empowering Girls and the Disenfranchised to Build a Lasting Peace

In a society ready to rebuild, BPS member Yuly Sanchez has found a way to use science to engage with those hit hardest by decades of strife. Work- ing with the National University of Colombia’s Social Innovation for Peace project, which seeks to develop strategies for inclusion and promote the social appropriation of knowledge, Sanchez has been leading a project to build up trust, empower- ment, and knowledge for the people of Tumaco. During the 2016 Biophysical Society Annual Meeting, Sanchez connected with BPS Education Committee members and learn about a newly launched Society initiative known as BASICS: Biophysics - A Step-by-Step Introduction to Concepts for Students , which provides lesson plans for K-12 students on elementary biophysical concepts. Dur- ing this meeting, BPS was also able to procure a number of wooden microscopes kits from Chro- ma/Echo Labs, and provide Sanchez with two dozen kits and a lesson plan on light microscopy to take with her. Once back in Colombia, Sanchez put both of these to good use in the Social Innova- tion for Peace program after proposing their use in an activity. Sanchez launched her project on February 11, 2016, on the first annual International Day of Women and Girls in Science. The United Nations General Assembly created the day, which recog- nizes that full and equal access to and participation in science, technology, and innovation for women and girls of all ages is imperative for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. According to a recent study conducted at the National University of Colombia, women have low participation rates in the university’s courses related to the quantitative sciences, and are conferred just a small percentage of STEM degrees granted in the country. Since launching her project, Sanchez has worked with more than 200 minority students and has witnessed success in using the hands-on exercise of

Sanchez, front, with participants in the Scientific Women and Girls Building Peace Program.

Situated in a tropical climate off the Pacific Ocean, Tumaco is a port city and municipality in Colombia’s Nariño Department, located on the southwestern corner of the country. Pre- dominately populated by Afro-Colombians and indigenous peoples, it is an area that has been hit hard by years of conflict between the government, paramilitary groups, narco-traffickers, and left- wing guerrilla forces. As recently as 2015, a series of explosions and attacks left the city virtually disconnected from the rest of the country for days. It is an area that has experienced more than three times the national rate of murders from 2011 to 2013 as a result of guerrilla atrocities and, accord- ing to Human Rights Watch, Tumaco’s rates of poverty, illiteracy, and infant mortality are more than double the national average. Given its history, Tumaco’s residents have been among the most vulnerable people in Colombia. However, in recent years, with a peace process underway, and through government and nongovernmental organization-backed interventions, life is finally beginning to improve in Tumaco.