Nearly 130 educators from northern and central areas of Alabamaattended the February Genetic Resources Empowering Alabama Teachers workshop offered by HudsonAlpha. “Those who participated in the workshop received classroom kits with hands-on exercises in chromosomal arrangements, protein folding and the relationships between DNA, RNA and functional proteins,” said Madelene Loftin, HudsonAlpha biotechnology education specialist.
It was the second GREAT workshop held by the institute. The one-day event provided life science educators with content updates in genetics, genomics and biotechnology. Equipped with new tools and content, teachers who have attended GREAT sessions to date cumulatively impact 28,000 Alabama students. The first GREAT workshop was held last October in Auburn. Workshops will be held in Mobile and Tuscaloosa this fall.
Neil Lamb, Ph.D., director of educational outreach at the institute, highlighted recent discoveries, technology advances and medical applications. The Genetics and Biotechnology Guidebook, created by Lamb and his staff to add increased relevance to classroom study, was another featured resource.
This training was the best opportunity I've experienced to learn about new discoveries in biotechnology/genetics! Thank you so much for the time and effort put into this training. I am so excited to use the materials with my students!
— GREAT participant