A funny thing happened on the way to summer...

August 11, 2011

A funny thing happened on the way to summer…

Salk high school scholars, scientists of the future, present research

August 11, 2011

La Jolla—Our next generation of Scientists have arrived. Salk’s high school scholars – students from around San Diego County – gather at the Institute every summer to participate in hands-on laboratory experiences under the mentorship of a Salk scientist. The young scientists will present their findings today during the “Summer Research Presentations” event at 1:00 pm in the Trustees Room at the Salk Institute.

The Salk High School Scholars program was founded more than 40 years ago by Jonas Salk to provide opportunities for high school students to experience life in a scientific laboratory and explore the possibility of a career in science.

“Every summer we are more inspired than the last,” said Dona Mapston, Salk Education Specialist. She continued, “A great example is Jake Maskiewicz from University City High School. He is a second year intern with our program and was brought back by Dr. Tatyana Sharpee’s Computations Neurobiology Lab early this spring to start working on projects even before this year’s summer program started.” Jake’s work as an intern at Salk helped bolster his education opportunities and will be attending UC San Diego this fall as a Jacobs Scholar, a 4-year full-ride scholarship. He will also continue his work in the Salk lab.

Through the eight-week program, students are involved with a full-time research project as well as enrichment activities. Students learn how to formulate and test hypotheses, prepare experiments and draw conclusions from those experiments. They also learn to maintain laboratory notebooks and take part in regular lab meetings and group discussions. This event culminates in an opportunity for students to present their research projects to their mentors, lab members and families.

Noelle Ocen-Odoge, a graduate from Santana High School, spent her summer in Dr. Joanne Chory’s Plant Biology Lab. Serendipitously this was an exceptionally exciting time to work in the Plant Biology program at Salk, considering the program was recently ranked number one in the World by Thomson Reuters, based on citations by highly cited papers.

“Being able to learn and work alongside scientists at the Salk gave me a new perspective on how research is conducted in the labs. By doing this program I have gained knowledge about science, but also its major impact on society,” said Noelle Ocen-Odoge. She continued, “My most memorable moment at the Salk was sitting in on a lab meeting hearing scientists collaborate together on research that will ultimately lead to discoveries that could help change the world.”

In addition to Jake and Noelle, the following students will be presenting: Ryan Matonis, Poway High School, from Dr. Mannings Bioinformatics Lab; Jeanniffer Prieto, Lincoln High School and Tiffany Lo, The Bishop’s School, from Dr. Ecker’s Plant Biology Lab; Yelizaveta Lukasheva, Torrey Pines High School and Eric Tenort, Castle Park High School, from Dr. Evans Gene Expression Lab; Alyssa Herperger, Canyon Crest Academy, from Dr. Noel’s Chemical Biology and Proteomics Lab; Alec Payne, Saint Augustine High School, from Dr. Gage’s Genetics Lab; and Andrew Lee, The Bishop’s School, from Dr. Heinemann’s Molecular Neurobiology Lab.

The Salk Institute for Biological Studies supports a broad program of activities aimed at bringing the excitement of science and scientific discovery to the San Diego community. These activities include several efforts in middle school and high school education, with an overall goal of heightening student and teacher enthusiasm for the biological sciences and current research approaches.

关于索尔克生物研究所：
索尔克生物研究所是世界顶尖的基础研究机构之一，其国际知名的教职人员在一个独特、协作和富有创造性的环境中，深入探究生命科学的基本问题。索尔克科学家们致力于发现和指导未来几代研究人员，通过研究神经科学、遗传学、细胞和植物生物学以及相关学科，在癌症、衰老、阿尔茨海默氏症、糖尿病和传染病的认识方面做出了开创性的贡献。.

学院取得了许多成就，获得了包括诺贝尔奖和美国国家科学院院士在内的无数荣誉。该研究所由脊髓灰质炎疫苗先驱 Jonas Salk 博士于 1960 年创立，是一家独立的非营利组织和建筑地标。.