Introduction

1. Authentic soil bacterial genomics research in high school biotechnology classrooms Marshall Logvin, Christine RemenihSouth Mountain Community College, Phoenix, Arizona Introduction Arizona is in the last year of its “Bioscience Roadmap,” a ten-year plan to elevate the state’s bioindustry. Despite the recent recession, bioscience employment in Arizona has continued to grow by increasing wages and adding 32% more jobs since 2002. Creative and affordable strategies are necessary to prepare a diverse future bioscience workforce, especially as K-12 budgets experience continued cuts. A collaboration between Arizona university professors, high school teachers and South Mountain Community College, which is a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI), has created and disseminated a Soil Bacterium Identification lab (SBI) experiential learning opportunity across the Phoenix and Tucson metropolitan areas, impacting approximately 450 high school students, including over 100 minority students, every year. The USDA funded two grants supporting these efforts: the Undergraduate Bioscience Engagement Track (UBET) and Expanding UBET (eUBET). This protocol, which is typically reserved for traditional college students, has been customized for the needs of high school bell schedules and teachers without industry experience. Additionally, it is currently in press to be featured in a BIO107 lab manual, which will be distrubuted throughout Arizona. • Results • Over the course of UBET and eUBET, dual-enrollment biotechnology classes featuring the SBI lab expanded from three individual schools, in Mesa, AZ and Phoenix, AZ, to fourteen schools in six different districts in the Phoenix metro area. • Biotechnology course sections featuring the SBI lab have increased in the past 3 years (Table 2.) • Enrollment for college credit has increased, but not in proportion to sections (Table 2.) • High school dual-enrollment Hispanic enrollment (33%) is similar to minority student enrollment at SMCC (36%) (Figure 3.) • External funding sources at a primarily-Hispanic (98%) school supported high enrollment in 2010; enrollment dropped considerably when the funding was discontinued. • Funding is critical for low-income students to earn college credit. These students are often ethnic/racial minorities and first-generation college students. Conclusions Bioscience continues to grow in Arizona, in both employment opportunities and in popularity within high school courses. It is critical to engage pre-collegiate populations, especially minorities, in experiential learning opportunities like the SBI lab. Success in the dual-enrollment courses that offer such learning experiences will increase laboratory skills and confidence, which will empower more students to enter and complete baccalaureate studies in the biosciences. During this time of recession, decreases in available funding and family income to pay for college tuition, both for dual enrollment students and traditional college students, has been the greatest barrier observed in increasing the number of credits earned. Figure 3. 2011 Student enrollment by ethnicity. Literature cited 2010 Progress on Arizona’s Bioscience Roadmap. 2010. The Flynn Foundation. http://www.flinn.org/bio-roadmap/progress James, Greg. 2010. PCR for Clinical Microbiology. Springer Netherlands. Materials and methods Students collect a soil sample from their location of choice. Bacterial colonies from soil sample are cultured on Luria-Bertani (LB) agar plates. A pure culture is made from one colony and used to isolate genomic DNA. The 16s RNA gene in the DNA is PCR amplified and analyzed via agarose gel electrophoresis. DNA from gel is purified, sequenced and analyzed via BLAST. • 33% Minority • Hispanic (28%) • Black (3%) • Native American (2%) Acknowledgments We thank Antonio Garcia for laboratory assistance. Funding for this project was provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture/National Institute of Food and Agriculture Hispanic-Serving Institutions Education Grants Program Table 2. Student enrollment growth in BIO107, BIO245 and BIO24.7 Figure 1. SBI lab protocol flow. soil sample + dH20 For further information Please contact christine.remenih@southmountaincc.edu. More information on this and related projects can be obtained at www.bitly.com/nacta2011 Isolate DNA serial dilutions PCR with universal primers LB agar plate 37C X 24h B27F: AGA GTT TGA TCC TGG CTC AG U1492R: GGT TAC CTT GTT ACG ACT T Purify Fragment Sequence Compare Upload Excise ~1.5kb fragment Run product on agarose gel