core sector communique

Carnegie’s BioEYES Honored Twofold

Baltimore, MD—Carnegie’s educational outreach program, BioEYES, will be the recipient of the 2012 Viktor Hamburger Outstanding Educator Prize from the Society for Developmental Biology. BioEYES founders Steve Farber and Jamie Shuda (University of Pennsylvania), will accept the award at the upcoming annual meeting of the society in Montreal in July. BioEYES, with program manager Valerie Butler, is also currently featured in a video on the front page of the Baltimore City Schools' website.
The award was established in 2002 by the society to honor neuroembryologist Dr. Viktor Hamburger. It recognizes individuals who have made outstanding contributions to education in developmental biology. The recipient delivers a lecture at the education symposium of the annual meetings.

“One great thing about the video is that you clearly see how engaged the students are. That’s hard to describe when talking to people about the impact of BioEYES,”remarked Farber. “It’s a great honor to be recognized by the Society for Developmental Biology. They have been a stalwart supporter of BioEYES since its early beginnings. They recognize our commitment to improve science education in the public schools.”

BioEYES was established at Carnegie in 2007 to foster an interest in and a love for science in elementary, middle, and high school students. It is the brainchild of molecular biologist Steven Farber at the Carnegie Institution’s Department of Embryology. It provides outdoor and classroom-based learning through the use of live zebrafish. It also incorporates teacher empowerment and provides professional development seminars and a co-teaching experience with trained university science consultants.

To date, BioEYES has educated more than 50,000 students nationwide. 6,600 students participated in the program last year in the Baltimore region (3,400 in the Baltimore City Public Schools).

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BioEYES is currently located at the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Notre Dame, the Carnegie Institution for Science and Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. The program is entirely funded by grants and gifts. A complete list of sponsors can be found at the project’s website. The Carnegie Institution for Science (carnegieScience.edu) has been a pioneering force in basic scientific research since 1902. It is a private, nonprofit organization with six research departments throughout the U.S. Carnegie scientists are leaders in plant biology, developmental biology, astronomy, materials science, global ecology, and Earth and planetary science.