Science Pioneers's blog

Diana:

We've spent quite a lot of time preparing by doing mock interviews, reviewing literature about our scientists, and working in the labs. I hope that we'll be able to convey all that we learned about Dr. Varmus to the audience on Thursday. Every time I think about the Pioneers and how awesome it's going to be, my heart starts rattling like a jackhammer. My motto last year was "pressure is a privilege" but this year, it's “pressure makes diamonds!”read more

On Monday, the Pioneers students got to interview Dr. André Fenton, a neuroscientist from SUNY Downstate. They discussed his and Dr. Todd Sacktor’s groundbreaking studies on memory, his personal journey from the liberal arts to science, the role of international cooperation in scientific endeavors, and the path ahead for neuroscientists.read more

Last week, the students preparing to interview Sylvia Earle got a taste of what it means to conduct field research, Dr. Earle style. After checking on the results of experiments they performed with Professors Nasreen Haque and Niloufar Haque CUNY’s City Tech, they headed to the pool for a scuba diving lesson with professional divers Bernie Chowdhury, Angelo Dragone and Robert Garcia. They learned about the physics and physiology of diving, and then geared up, and went deep. They were naturals!

On May 20th, the students preparing to interview Harold Varmus visited Franklin Costantini’s genetics lab at Columbia University Medical Center. They worked with grad student Paul Riccio, who led them through a mouse dissection, discussed some of Dr. Varmus’ work and techniques, and fielded questions about life in the lab. [Riccio—in accordance with protocol—terminated a mouse he was using for an experiment and harvested the embryonic kidneys for further analysis.]read more

David and Nibh weigh in on the Pioneers in Science trip to StoryCorpsread more

We’re just three weeks away from the Pioneers in Science event, when two groups of students will interview two renowned scientists, Sylvia Earle and Harold Varmus.

As part of their preparation, the students went to StoryCorps’ professional sound recording booth at Lincoln Center, so the two groups could meet and hang out for the first time and sharpen their interviewing skills. They paired off and headed into the airstream trailer. The result was a series of insightful, touching and often surprising conversations about everything from killing bacteria to wearing high heels to changing the world.read more

Students from the Brooklyn International High School have been researching the life and work of Harold Varmus to prepare for the Pioneers in Science event, during which three representatives from the group will interview Dr. Varmus. As part of the preparation, the students visited the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory’s Harlem DNA Lab to perform a bacterial transformation experiment. Their experience was filmedread more

Students from the Brooklyn International High School have been researching the life and work of Harold Varmus to prepare for the Pioneers in Science event, during which three representatives from the group will interview Dr. Varmus. As part of the preparation, the students visited the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory’s Harlem DNA Lab to perform a bacterial transformation experiment. Their experience was filmed.read more