Science Café

On October 25th, 2013, we participated in a Science Café at Sir Winston Churchill High School. At this event, we had an hour to talk to high school students about synthetic biology and our project. This was a great way to engage a younger audience, allowing us to educate them about synthetic biology, our project, and participating in iGEM in the future. We also had the chance to speak about our University and what it has to offer. The students were very engaged and asked us questions about our project, what kind of opportunities exist for them when they enter post-secondary education, and how to get involved in iGEM. We were incredibly happy to see the enthusiasm they had for science and their excitement for the emerging field of synthetic biology. Our presentation was so successful, we were asked to return to speak to students at a Science Expo Information Night. This event will be hosted at Sir Winston Churchill for all high school students from around Calgary on November 6th. This will allow us to educate students from around the city about synthetic biology and let them know how they can be involved in science and iGEM in their future. We hope to see them at an iGEM information night in a year or two, but even if the students do not end up as participants in a future iGEM competition, they will be able to act as ambassadors for synthetic biology by using their knowledge to educate their friends and family.