Team:Baltimore BioCrew/Public Engagement

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PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT

• Artscape






• Minterlab






• Flyers

Educating the Public

The Baltimore BioCrew has made it a priority to not only participate in science, but also encourage others to do the same. We aimed to help others become aware of the influence science has on our life, health, and well-being. In doing so, we have uniquely engaged with residents of Baltimore, the Maryland and DC Community, and elementary-middle school students.

Artscape

Over a three day period from Friday, July 19th to Sunday, July 21st, we hosted a booth at Artscape, a large festival attracting over 350,000 attendees. We figured this was the perfect opportunity to inform the public about science and its impact on their lives, with the aim of gaining awareness and interest.

In order to do so, our time at Artscape was split into two main parts:

1. to allow all attendees to participate in science for themselves
2. to provide attendees the opportunity learn about the broadness of synthetic biology

For the first part, we hosted agar art, where participants were able to use colored bacteria and yeast to create designs and images of their own creation. Being an Art festival, we found this method to be very applicable and engaging, as the creatively- inclined would be able to see that science and art are not two distinct, separate fields- as is commonly thought. Instead, they would be able to see that their own interests can be combined with science, thus opening their interest to it.

For the second part, we asked people who stopped by our booth if they wanted to play a trivia game to test their knowledge.



Some of our questions informed players about iGEM …


...while others helped them to become more aware of the possibilities and impact of synthetic biology

Public Reception

From these activities, we noticed that:

-Participants were very interested in our project and are generally aware of the rising problem of antibiotic resistance.
-Participants were genuinely interested in and optimistic about the impact of our project. One woman shared her personal experience of continuous usage of antibiotics and the constant sickness that arose from it.

We continue to make the education of others a priority, as spreading knowledge is the basis of science.

Minterlab

For students, we hosted two Minterlab sessions where we taught them about synthetic biology and helped them conduct their own science experiments. See our Minterlabpage for more information.

Flyers

From our research into the dangers of antibiotics and antibiotic-resistant bacteria, we learned that 2 million Americans get antibiotic-resistant infections every year. 17 patients in Maryland alone were diagnosed with carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae in 2017. These infections boast a 50 percent mortality rate. This same year, Maryland passed the Keep Antibiotics Effective Act to reduce antibiotic use in farm-raised animals.

In order to create a society of people conscious about their antibiotic use and the laws passed about them, we decided to inform the public on this topic. We did this by placing informative flyers in highly trafficked areas including local stores, schools, and hospitals. In doing this, we hope to influence the public perception of antibiotics and look forward to building a better Baltimore.