Research Symposium
NSF-BIORETS
NSF-BIORETS
Research Experiences for Teachers
From Rural and Tribal Schools
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This BIORETS Site award to the University of North Dakota (UND), located in Grand Forks, ND, will support eight teachers from rural and tribal schools for a six-week research experience followed by two weeks of curriculum development and training (with BioRad kits) during the summer. This program will provide the teachers actual research experiences in environmental biology as it pertains to gene regulation. Teachers will gain hands-on lab experience working alongside undergraduate research participants, participate in professional development workshops, and assist in developing and co-instructing the one-week Molecular Biology Boot Camp for high school students held at UND. Following the summer, utilizing materials from the research labs, teachers will use the curriculum they developed in their classrooms to increase the exposure of rural and tribal high school students to molecular biology and scientific research. The grant provides materials and supplies to implement the classroom research project.  UND faculty will serve as a resource throughout the year. Teachers are invited to present their research and curriculum plans at the Summer Research Symposium and/or the Fall Research Symposium.

We will select up to 8 teachers from Northern Great Plains region to participate in the Summer 2024 BIORETs cohort. All accepted teachers must be science teachers who have a contract to teach during the 2025 school year. Priority will be given to teachers from rural and tribal schools. If you have questions about the program, please email Dr. Van Doze at van.doze@UND.edu.

  • Program dates are June 3 – July 26, 2024 (8 weeks)
  • Benefits for teachers:

  • Opportunity for hands-on biomedical research
  • Participate in professional development activities
  • Participants will receive:
  • $8000 stipend
  • Room & board allowance
  • Travel costs (up to $800)
  • Materials and supplies to implement curriculum in their classroom.
  • Project:  Mechanisms of gene expression changes and squamous differentiation in a model of metal-induced bladder cancer
  • Mentor:  Seema Somji, Ph.D., Associate Professor

  • Project:  Characterizing human renal progenitor cells, their differentiation patterns, and response to toxicants.
  • Mentor:  Scott Garrett, Ph.D., Associate Professor

Applications for 2024 are open through May 15, 2024.
  • Current research projects