Choosing a Career in Science Education • iBiology

00:00:15.01 My name is Edison Fowlks; I grew up in Terrell, Texas. I work at Hampton University
00:00:21.12 in Hampton, Virginia.
00:00:22.29 I'm Todd Eckdahl, I grew up in Elk River, Minnesota,
00:00:26.11 and I work at Missouri Western University in St. Joseph, Missouri.
00:00:30.23 Hello, my name is Consuelo Alvarez, I work at Longwood University,
00:00:35.15 a small school in Farmville, Virginia. I was born in Quito, Ecuador,
00:00:41.04 and since my original language is Spanish,
00:00:43.28 I would like to tell you my story in Spanish.
00:00:48.10 I first realized that I had a passion for science when I was a little boy around 3 years old.
00:00:57.10 I was really impressed with the way plants seemingly moved toward the light.
00:01:03.17 I wanted to find out why, so I designed various experiments
00:01:08.22 to find the answers. Also, I never found the answer, but I had a lot fun in the process.
00:01:14.11 So, trying to find the answer, I became addicted to plants, to research,
00:01:21.23 it was an addiction that I could not mock and the only way out
00:01:26.23 was to go to college to learn more about plants.
00:01:29.20 So, I think one of the things that comes to mind is a science fair project that I did
00:01:34.07 in the fifth grade, and it was called, "What's Your Bee IQ?".
00:01:38.07 It was about honeybees. The title's pretty clever, which I need to credit to my grandfather,
00:01:43.07 who also taught me a lot about bees and beekeeping.
00:01:46.07 He was a honey salesman and he set me and my brother Troy up with hives
00:01:50.25 and we learned all about bees and so, I can see that this science fair project,
00:01:55.10 which was really a science demonstration to explain to people, you know,
00:01:59.01 what those little furry creatures were in the backyard that would sting your little sister all the time.
00:02:32.28 I hung around with a group of boys that, you know, were very curious about the world,
00:02:37.11 and I felt like, you know, we were trying to be little scientists,
00:02:41.10 you know, and so I really didn't feel atypical in terms of my interest for science,
00:02:46.25 not all of those boys went into science, but they all had that same kind of curiosity
00:02:51.25 about the world and so I just feel lucky that I have a job where I can explore that.
00:02:56.27 Not very many of the kids that I grew up with ended up going to college.
00:03:00.01 I grew up in small town, Elk River, Minnesota, and you know, a lot of those kids stayed in Elk River, Minnesota,
00:03:07.03 and they ended up getting a job, you know, maybe they, you know, started a family,
00:03:11.07 and had responsibilities to support their family, so you know,
00:03:14.28 going to college wasn't the norm, and even once you did get to college,
00:03:19.07 getting a college degree and then working was more what you did.
00:03:22.15 You know, the idea of going on to graduate school was not very common.
00:03:26.17 So, you know, it turns out that I'm the first person in my family to get a college degree.
00:03:30.16 So, you know, hopefully things are changing,
00:03:33.24 where the next generation sees that that's possible.
00:04:43.06 I went to two different graduate schools, first at Michigan State,
00:04:47.10 where I received a Master's degree, and I had an opportunity to work with Fred Elliott.
00:04:54.09 noted cytogeneticst.
00:04:57.02 And I realized then that the impact of research, that research could have a great impact on the world.
00:05:06.28 He was developing new crops for agriculture and for the world,
00:05:10.17 so I wanted to be a part of it.
00:05:12.16 And so, I decided that I wanted to continue to do research in molecular biology,
00:05:21.06 and also to take my training for Michigan State, that is, the knowledge that I had learned,
00:05:30.25 experiences at Michigan State and develop an undergraduate, molecular biology program at HVCU
00:05:40.04 so I went to Bishop College, in Dallas, Texas,
00:05:43.25 where we put in place the first undergraduate molecular biology program
00:05:49.10 at any black college in America, with funding in the amount of over 2 million dollars.
00:05:55.14 So, that gave students a chance to enter the field of molecular biology
00:06:00.18 and at that time, we created a summer program where we brought in high school kids
00:06:09.04 and turned them on to molecular biology.
00:06:12.23 So, probably, I first realized that I wanted a career in science during college.
00:06:17.20 I went to college thinking that I would be pre-med and that I would go to medical school
00:06:21.24 and it turns out I hadn't really thought very deeply about that.
00:06:25.26 And I had a class in genetics in the summer of my junior year
00:06:30.00 with professor Steve Hedman and that really turned me on.
00:06:33.17 I thought that was really cool and he modeled for me what it would be like to be a scientist
00:06:38.18 and to be a professor and he explained to me that, you know,
00:06:41.29 if you want to do that, you could do that.
00:06:43.18 Because I didn't really feel the passion to be a medical doctor
00:06:47.06 but I started to get the idea that being a scientist might be a lot of fun
00:06:52.01 and might be a really rewarding path for me instead.
00:07:28.00 I love my job because I have an opportunity to be creative,
00:07:33.08 to invent new ways of doing things.
00:07:36.07 In fact, at Hampton University, we've had a chance to bring the disciplines together
00:07:43.25 as was started back in the early 70's at Bishop College.
00:07:49.08 We essentially are trying, we have a program this summer,
00:07:52.19 that is supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute
00:07:56.15 where we have brought in 20 young people from the various disciplines,
00:08:01.12 from chemistry, from mathematics, from engineering, from computer science,
00:08:08.16 and biology, and they're going to essentially focus on DNA from the standpoint of these various perspectives
00:08:16.25 and they're really turning on to it and so we want them to understand
00:08:23.13 that in the future, there will be a team approach,
00:08:28.00 they're going to be a team, working, trying to solve the cancer problem,
00:08:34.15 an engineer is needed, a mathematician is needed, a computer scientist is needed,
00:08:38.21 a biologist is needed, a chemist is needed, all working as a team.
00:08:43.14 The best part about my job is getting to interact with young people
00:08:47.10 and new young people every year, diverse kinds of young people,
00:08:51.12 each of which have their own ideas about what they'd like to do
00:08:55.04 and just to try and model a behavior that says to them,
00:08:59.01 you can do whatever you want to do.
00:09:01.00 If it's right for you to become a teacher, then you can do that.
00:09:04.04 If you think that you want to go into medicine, then you can do that.
00:09:07.00 If you want to be a professor at a research university or a professor at an undergraduate university,
00:09:12.10 that's something that you can do.
00:09:14.05 And so I just really get a thrill out of being able to interact with young people
00:09:18.01 and itâ€™s just invigorating, you know, every year that I get to work at my university,
00:09:21.20 I think is a blessing.
00:10:34.09 Oh yes, back in the late 60's, around '69, I guess, Professor Heinz Fraenkel-Conrat
00:10:43.00 brought Professor Fred Sanger to my lab bench
00:10:47.16 and introduced me and asked him, me to share with him
00:10:52.25 the polynucleotide phosphokinase that I had teased out of E. coli
00:10:58.29 after this enzyme had been induced by the T4 phage,
00:11:02.24 so I wrapped up the entire system and gave it to him to take back to England.
00:11:09.04 But he said, at that time, that he was interested in DNA sequencing
00:11:14.06 and of course, about 7 or 8 years later, he published the now-famous Sanger technology
00:11:21.20 for sequencing DNA and the rest is history.
00:11:25.25 Yeah, so I had a class this year in genetics
00:11:31.02 and during that class we had a particular lab where students were doing experiments
00:11:35.27 and collecting their own data on a particular kind of a genetic cross
00:11:38.28 and the students came across something unexpected.
00:11:41.10 And the students were responsible for giving presentations to the class
00:11:45.05 and I remember this particular group that was so excited
00:11:48.26 to be able to present what they had found to the class
00:11:51.10 and they almost acted sheepish about this,
00:11:53.19 because, they were like, oh wow, should we be saying this,
00:11:56.02 you know, this isn't what it's supposed to be, is it?,
00:11:58.20 you know, and I thought that was really great,
00:12:00.15 that they were able to stand up in front of their colleagues and say,
00:12:02.19 this is what we found, we're not sure if this is right, but it's new,
00:12:07.09 and they were really enthused by that and afterwards, I took them aside,
00:12:10.19 and I said, that was awesome, because that's what science is about.
00:12:14.13 Trying to find out something that other people don't know,
00:12:16.19 and then have the courage to tell people about it,
00:12:18.26 and that was really invigorating, for me and for them.
00:12:27.05 I can tell them that they can do what I do;
00:12:30.20 they should first go to school,
00:12:33.07 they should study, and do well at mathematics, in the STEM areas,
00:12:37.23 and they too can become a scientist, they too can become a professor,
00:12:42.05 and this is a rewarding position, you have a chance to really impact the lives
00:12:47.05 of young people, you have a chance to really, really keep this country great.
00:12:52.07 Well, I would absolutely encourage them, and I have encouraged students
00:12:55.12 to have a job like mine. You know, it turns out that one of the things that I learned
00:13:00.14 is, you know, when I was in college, you know, I really idolized my professors.
00:13:05.02 And I thought, oh, he or she is so smart, how do you get to be that way?
00:13:09.05 And one of the things I've learned is that they're just people,
00:13:12.00 and yes, they're smart people. But they're doing a job that I could do.
00:13:16.09 And so I pass that on to my students, you know, because sometimes they'll make comments
00:13:20.15 like, you know, wow, I could never do what you do.
00:13:23.04 And I tell them, no, that's wrong, you could do what I can do.
00:13:26.22 And you could do it better, and you could do it in your own way.
00:13:29.09 And so, when students have an interest in teaching, whether it's in the high school level,
00:13:33.09 or the college level or at a research university,
00:13:35.15 I always try and encourage them and say, you know,
00:13:37.19 you have something that you could contribute to this
00:13:39.14 and I know that you could do a good job,
00:13:41.16 probably a better job than I can do.
00:14:13.05 So, I think the advice that I would give the little Todd
00:14:16.03 is, you know, live for today.
00:14:19.00 Enjoy what it is that you have right in front of you, live for the moment,
00:14:22.06 don't worry too much about the future, don't worry about planning things out exactly right,
00:14:27.05 take things as they come, and then if you do what you're supposed to be doing,
00:14:32.09 if you work hard, then someday, you can end up having a job that you love.
00:14:36.03 And then people will actually pay you for it.
00:14:38.13 I would tell myself to essentially be the same way I was many, many years ago
00:14:50.21 growing up in Terrell, Texas.
00:14:52.13 Essentially, follow my own dream and to remember the lines from Invictus,
00:15:02.00 It matters not how strait the gates,How charged with punishments the scroll,
00:15:08.06 I am the master of my fate:I am the captain of my soul.

This Talk

Speakers: Edison Fowlks, Todd Eckdahl, Consuelo Alvarez

Audience:

Educators of H. School / Intro Undergrad
Student
Educators of Adv. Undergrad / Grad
Researcher
Educators

Recorded: June 2012

Talk Overview

Drs. Alvarez, Eckdahl and Fowlks have all chosen to teach and pursue research at universities that serve primarily undergraduates. They explain why they chose a career in science education and how they got there. They also tell us how much they love the chance to interact with and inspire their students.

Although the speakers come from very different backgrounds, they all discovered a love of biology at an early age and decided to pass on that passion by teaching at primarily undergraduate colleges. Each of the speakers has been involved in developing and using innovative methods such as the GCAT and iGEM to bring cutting edge science to their students.

Speaker Bio

Edison Fowlks

Edison Fowlks

Dr. Edison Fowlks is a Professor of Biology and the Director of Biotechnology Laboratory at Hampton University, in Hampton, Virginia. Fowlks received his PhD from Ohio State University, and did his post-doc at Michigan State University and UC Berkeley where he studied ribosomal and viral RNA structure. He then started a lab at Bishop College… Continue Reading

Todd Eckdahl

Todd Eckdahl

Dr. Todd Eckdahl is a Professor and Chairperson of the Department of Biology at Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph, Missouri. Eckdahl, who was the first person in his family to get a college degree, received his PhD from Purdue University where he found his passion for science education. He currently teaches majors and… Continue Reading

Consuelo Alvarez

Consuelo Alvarez

Dr. Consuelo Alvarez is a Professor of Biochemistry and Genetics at Longwood University, a small school in FarmVille, Virginia. Alvarez was born in Quito, Ecuador, where she found a passion for the outdoors and learning about nature. She received her PhD in Biochemistry at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She has been at Longwood… Continue Reading