SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA PARTNERS IN NEUROSCIENCE EDUCATION WIN AWARD TO 37TH SOCIETY FOR NEUROSCIENCE MEETING IN SAN DIEGO
For immediate release.
NR-28-07 (10/31/07) For more information, please call DeeDee Clendenning at (202) 962-4000 or dclendenning@sfn.org
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA PARTNERS IN NEUROSCIENCE EDUCATION
WIN AWARD TO 37TH SOCIETY FOR NEUROSCIENCE MEETING IN SAN DIEGO
Cathy Isom, a teacher at Torrey Pines Elementary in San Diego, Calif., and Leanne Chukoskie, PhD, of The Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, Calif., have received a Neuroscientist-Teacher partner Travel Award to attend the Society for Neuroscience (SfN) annual meeting in San Diego, November 3-7.
This partnership program in neuroscience of one neuroscientist and one teacher, sponsored by SfN, recognizes 13 pairs for their commitment and innovative approach to bringing neuroscience into the classroom.
"Our key goal working together is to integrate neuroscience into our hands-on science lab. Teaching in a science minded community, we have learned that, if given the opportunity, elementary students can grasp and embrace advanced science concepts," says Isom.
Over the past four years, Isom and Chukoskie have worked together to introduce students to the study of neuroscience. All 400 K-5 students at Torrey Pines experience hands-on science once a week in their lab. "Leanne and I are working to create activities that will literally activate the brain and engage the specific human reactions and behaviors we are teaching them about," says Isom.
After the conference, Isom and Chukoskie plan to introduce their newest neuroscience concepts and activities. "Hopefully, after we experiment and communicate in our lab, our budding neuroscientists will go home and teach their parents, again activating their brains by seeing, doing and teaching," explains Isom.
In addition to receiving unlimited access to the meeting's thousands of sessions and forums, the awardees have been invited to attend a number of special events. Isom, Chukoskie, and the other educators will also be honored at a meeting of SfN's Public Education and Communication Committee.
The goal of the award is to further partnerships between research and educational communities. "The travel award program is an example of the Society's commitment to explaining basic scientific processes -- how research leads to discovery and how discovery leads to treatments, cures, and healthy choices at all stages in life," says Society for Neuroscience Public Education Director, Colleen McNerney. "This program provides encouragement and visibility to the Society's members to embrace and contribute to this work, demonstrating the value of scientists and teachers working in partnership."
Roughly 30,000 scientists from around the world will attend SfN's annual meeting to present and discuss the latest advances in neuroscience research. The meeting will feature more than 16,400 presentations covering topics ranging from stem cell research to basic human behavior.
The Society for Neuroscience, with more than 38,000 members, is the largest organization of researchers and clinicians studying the brain and nervous system.
