University Park -- Graduate Student Recognized for Outreach Efforts
Alexandra Surcel, a Ph.D. candidate in the Integrative Biosciences, received the 2006 Intercollege Graduate Student Outreach Achievement Award at the Graduate Exhibition Awards Ceremony on March 26, for establishing BioDays, a one-day, annual outreach event targeted to grade school children and their parents.
The purpose of BioDays is to promote understanding and awareness of fundamental biological concepts among the general population through seminars and hands-on activities. These include 20-minute talks by researchers on their work; tours of on-campus biology facilities; hands-on demonstrations of basic biology concepts; and posters and demonstrations by Penn State labs.
In order to get BioDays off the ground, Surcel developed a detailed plan and budget; recruited volunteers among students and staff and from a variety of departments and programs at Penn State; and identified individuals who would present talks, conduct demonstrations and guide laboratory tours. To increase the impact of the event, she also worked with the Pennsylvania Space Grant Consortium to hold BioDays at the same time and in close proximity to the consortium’s annual outreach event known as Space Day.
BioDays was extremely successful, with over 700 people attending the first event in 2004 and nearly 900 attending in 2005. Through BioDays, Surcel created a vehicle to enhance the public’s understanding of science, to stimulate children’s scientific curiosity, and to demonstrate to the public that money invested in science brings great discoveries and benefits to society.
The Intercollege Graduate Student Outreach Achievement Award encourages future scholars and researchers to embrace outreach and promote a commitment to advancing the welfare and quality of life for the public through scholarly pursuits. The award was made possible by a gift from two Penn State alumni, Dr. Steven Linberg and Alice Linberg, and from a matching gift from the Office of the Vice President of Outreach.
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PR Contact:
Marilyn B. Engle
mbengle@psu.edu
814-863-8117
Release Date: April 4, 2006