Team:Cornell NY/Engagement

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Public Engagement

Overview

Some things are meant to be kept private, but our 2016 iGEM project on mastitis was meant to be shared. We seized some of our most unique outreach opportunities yet this past year, working with a science museum, educating underprivileged youth, and being put on a public stage at the Great New York State Fair. We aimed not to demonstrate but to engage, having conversations about mastitis and synthetic biology.

Humans and SynBio

“What is synthetic biology to you?”

Here’s what they told us.

The Great NY State Fair

1 million people. The Great NY State Fair is called great for a reason--it sees a huge influx of people every summer. New York State is one of the top five agricultural producers in the country, and so agriculture is rightfully showcased at the fair. The fair served not only as a place where we could raise awareness about synthetic biology, but also, in light of the agricultural focus, the perfect field to showcase our mastitis project.

We were stationed at a booth near the Youth Building, one of the main attractions for youth and their parents at the fair. As people came through--people from all over New York, Pennsylvania, and other neighboring states--we engaged them with an activity from Building with Biology, an initiative funded by the National Science Foundation.

The activity, called the “Kit of Parts,” illustrated synthetic biology as a way to put different pieces together to solve a problem. After the activity, we asked them to participate in our photo campaign known as “Humans and SynBio”, inspired by Humans of New York.

YOURS Mentorship

4-H Career Explorations & Symposiums