Kars4Kids: BioBus seems to combine social justice with science. BioBase programs are a way for students to explore their scientific interest over a longer period of time. In “Pursue” internships, paid high school and college students take on their own research projects and take the first step on their science career path. Eight to twelve-week BioBus “Explore” programs provide students with opportunities to develop their own research practice. We offer “Explore” and “Pursue” programs at BioBase Harlem. After just 45-minutes aboard a BioBus mobile lab for a “Discover” program, students have more positive attitudes towards science and want to do more. Kars4Kids: Tell us about BioBase? How is it different from your mobile labs? What can you do there that cannot be done in the mobile lab?īen Dubin-Thaler: The primary purpose of our BioBase lab is to provide a space for more in-depth exploration into science for those students who got a taste of it on the mobile lab. Staff presenting this morning’s program: Ben Dubin-Thaler, PhD, Founder and Executive Director Sarah Weisberg, MSci, Chief Scientist and Latasha Wright, PhD, Chief Scientist. Washington Heights Expeditionary Learning School is a junior and senior high school in Washington Heights. New York, NY, USA – October 12, 2017: BioBus II on its first outing, brings a science program to high school students at Wheels School on 182nd Street in Manhattan. You can find a listing of current BioBus job openings at /jobs. The scientific community recognizes they are critical to overcoming these disparities and thus BioBus has a huge amount of interest not only in scientists volunteering their time but also in our science staff positions. Therefore, it is crucial for our staff to be representative of these communities so students can see themselves in the scientists teaching them. BioBus was founded to address these disparities. Unfortunately, this inequality has set up many low-income students with less access to resources, materials, and time allotted for science education. Is it difficult to find enough qualified staff members from these communities? Why is it important that they have majority representation as BioBus staff members?īen Dubin-Thaler: Despite its diversity, New York City has one of the most racially and economically segregated school systems in the nation. But 80 percent of your staff scientists are from groups that are underrepresented in the STEM world, for instance black, Hispanic, and female. Kars4Kids: Of the youth you serve, 65 percent are black or Hispanic. These programs are located at partner sites around NYC and at BioBase Harlem, our community lab. We currently operate these two mobile labs as well as in-depth science programs outside of school time and paid high school and college internships. Over the past ten years, we have honed our mobile lab programs, advancing physical design, curriculum, and program operations to create our second mobile lab, BioBus II built on an Airstream trailer. How many mobile labs do you operate?īen Dubin-Thaler: I founded the organization and built BioBus I, our first mobile lab, on a 1974 public transit bus. Kars4Kids: As of 2018, BioBus has turned on 250,000 students at over 500 schools to the cool world of science. We spoke to BioBus Executive Director Ben Dubin-Thaler, Ph.D., to learn all about the work of this uniquely creative nonprofit organization. At Kars4Kids, we were bowled over by the ingenuity of this organization and its impact and pleased to award BioBus a small grant. The labs, moreover, are powered by solar panels. BioBus brings science to the children of New York’s underserved communities by way of buses turned into mobile labs.
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