Carnegie Mellon University
Seminars & Events
Photo: Club members discuss HHMI Professorship with Manuel Ares, Jr., Ph.D. from UC Santa Cruz.

Spring 2014 Seminars & Events

Thursday, March 13th, 2014
Electrophoresis Lab Outreach: Ringgold High School
Six classes of 43 minutes.

PCR products from the previous outreach session were analyzed using electrophoretic separation, with students gaining experience loading and running DNA on agarose gels. Variation among the targeted alleles was determined by comparing the size of PCR products with those of a molecular weight reference.

Tuesday, March 11th, 2014
PCR Lab Outreach: Ringgold High School
Three classes of 80 minutes.

Teaching club members led local high school biology students through analysis of personal genetic variation. During the first lab day, students isolated genomic DNA from saliva and performed PCR to amplify loci that contain VNTRs. Students were allowed to pick two of three loci (PLAT, pMCT118, PER3).

Fall 2013 Seminars & Events

Thursday, November 14, 2013
Outreach with Carrie Doonan
8:30 - 12:30 p.m. Mellon Institute Labs

Teaching club members led labs and served as TAs for local high school students as part of the Biological Sciences Outreach, run by Dr. Carrie Doonan, director of undergraduate laboratories. The lab activities included building a medical history pedigree and performing gel electrophoresis to identify an oncogenic p53 mutation.

Friday, November 1, 2013
Microteaching Workshop
4:00 - 6:00 p.m. Mellon Institute Board Room

Three 10-minute presentations were delivered and critiqued; subjects included protein regulation via degradation, protein purification, and neurophysiology.

Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Teaching Club Bake Sale
12:00 - 5:30 p.m. Mellon Institute

Supplied Mellon Institute with various baked goods in order to raise money for the purchase of kits for molecular biology outreach.

Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Annual Kickoff Meeting
5:30 - 6:30 p.m. Mellon Institute Social Room

Discussed and developed a preliminary calendar for monthly events during the Fall semester. Welcomed new members, and held elections for all officer postings. The following members were voted into stated positions. Shanna Bowersox: President; Zach Weinberg: Vice president; Karen Kormuth: Secretary; Tara Tappen: Treasurer. Our faculty advisor will remain DJ Brasier.

Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Graduate Student Orientation Fair
3:00 - 5:00 p.m. University Center: Rangos 3

Advertised the Teaching Club as a resource for graduate and undergraduate students to hone skills that will make them more attractive candidates for post-graduation jobs.

Spring 2013 Seminars & Events

Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Advice for Aspiring Science Teachers: Making Old-School Lectures Engaging for Your Students and Yourself
3:00 - 4:00 p.m. Mellon Institute Social Room

The Teaching Club is holding a seminar featuring Dr. Daniel Gurnon of DePauw University for people interested in improving their lecture design for a fulfilling teaching experience for themselves and their students. He will also be giving advice and describing his journey from graduate school to his position now as a professor at a liberal arts university.

Fall 2012 Seminars & Events

Monday, December 10, 2012
Biological Sciences Outreach: Gene Regulation
8:30 a.m. to Noon
The Biological Sciences Outreach is run by Dr. Carrie Doonan, director of undergraduate laboratories. High school students from around Pittsburgh are brought to CMU for morning labs. The students are guided by undergraduate and graduate students in conducting experiments and understanding the methods and results. Each mentor may be paired with two to four students, depending on attendance and the number of available volunteers.

December's Outreach: Work with high school students to induce the lac operon to produce beta galactosidase, and then quantitate the levels of enzyme activity.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Biological Sciences Outreach: Murder Mystery
8:15 a.m. to Noon
Mellon Institute Conference Room

The Biological Sciences Outreach is run by Dr. Carrie Doonan, director of undergraduate laboratories. High school students from around Pittsburgh are brought to CMU for morning labs. The students are guided by undergraduate and graduate students in conducting experiments and understanding the methods and results. Each mentor may be paired with two to four students, depending on attendance and the number of available volunteers.

October's Outreach: Solve a murder mystery by digesting DNA and running it on a gel to match restriction digest patterns.

Monday, September 24, 2012
Eberly: Planning Effective Lectures
Noon to 2 p.m.
Mellon Institute Social Room (MI 328)

Monday, September 24th, from 12-2 pm the Teaching Club is hosting an Eberly Center Seminar, led by Dr. Hilary Schuldt on Planning Effective Lectures in the Mellon Institute Social Room. If you would like to learn more about ensuring that students are engaged and understanding materials during a lecture as well as have some free food, come join us!

Please let us know if you can or cannot attend so that we can plan ahead for food and materials. http://www.doodle.com/riw5sq7u8e3nahpz

Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Teaching Club Annual Organization Meeting
6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Mellon Institute Board Room

Met to outline semester events:

  • Documented seminar by Eberly.
  • Writing effective recommendation letters.
  • Biology outreach with Carrie.
  • New faculty first lectures panel.
  • Microteaching workshop.
  • Mentorship/workshops for using software in the Sciences.
  • Held elections.