Team:FSU/Collaborations
Collaborations
Georgia State University
Over the Summer, we were fortunate enough to be invited to participate in a bootcamp-styled meet-up with other teams hosted by Georgia State University in Atlanta. To start the bootcamp, the teams participated in a speed-dating ice breaker, in which two people from different teams pitched their project to each other. After speaking to a few other people, whoever recited another team’s pitch the best received a price. This allowed the teams to learn about each other’s work and served as a fantastic way for members to become more familiar with reciting their project as efficiently as possible within a limited time.
After the ice breaker, we watched a TED talk by Tyler DeWitt about successful science communication. This was an effective exercise in order for our teams to learn the value of communicating science in a manner similar to story-telling in order to captivate wide ranging audiences.
FSU Human Practices Team Lead, Jessie Griesheimer participates in Georgia State’s speed-dating ice breakers.
Later in the bootcamp, each team got the chance to present their project in the fashion of the iGEM Giant Jamboree. At the end, the teams had the opportunity to answer questions and receive candid feedback on the presentation. At the meeting, were advisors for the GSU team and the Lambert High School team, some of which are current iGEM judges and committee members. The feedback our team received on our presentation was highly appreciated and incorporated fully into our project.
BioTech Without Borders
In early Fall, our team was contacted by Craig Trester, the lab manager for a community biology laboratory in New York City by the name of Biotech Without Borders. Craig explained that the lab was host to a high school iGEM team also working on Citrus Greening/HLB. Through discussions of collaborations, we were in contact with Dr. Ellen Jorgensen, the high school team’s primary investigator who asked if we would be able to obtain uninfected, dead psyllid for her team. Since one of our team members is a research assistant at the UF | IFAS Satellite Campus in Quincy, Florida, we were able to obtain the psyllid and ship them out to the high school team. Dr. Jorgensen explained that with the psyllid, they will extract the DNA to use for their RNA interference studies in which they hope to target several psyllid genes rendering them unable to propagate.
University of Georgia
FSU's greatest iGEM contact came from the University of Georgia. We reached out to them in the early summer to discuss possible collaborations and after many conversations, a strong working relationship was formed. Throughout the summer, these conversations lead to UGA sharing their agro-transformation protocols with us for future uses, due to the similarity of our projects. Later in the season, their Team Lead, Arjun Bhatt, shared that they were lacking a strong Human Practices defense, so we sent our HP Team to them for help. In the Fall, Arjun even invited our team up for a UGA football tailgate. This collaboration showed the real-life dynamics in the power of scientific networking and professional friendships. We are very fortunate to have a neighboring state university as an FSU iGEM friend.
UGA Team Lead Arjun Bhatt on FaceTime with FSU Team Lead Roderick Meyer, Associate Lead Jacob Gottlieb, and Design Lead Juan Portilla.