How can we engage our next generation of citizens in discussions about emerging scientific technologies?
I do not have the answer to this question, but I have some ideas about where we can start. As I have been working at the Genetic Engineering and Society Center at NCSU, Starting the conversation has been the goal. The staff at the GES center do a great job of providing information and looking at research but their goal is to engage many different groups of people in discussions surrounding new and emerging biotechnologies. Starting conversations is not always easy when personal opinions, long held beliefs and ethics are all variables. Yet starting conversation is better than no conversation.
I have been giving many opportunities while working here at the center to start those conversations: I have worked with IGERT fellowship students in lab, I have presented and piloted new activities in synthetic biology at an after hours museum event, I have gone to lunch with Monsanto employees, I have listened in on meetings about grant funded workshops on gene drive, and I have talked one on one with professors, researchers, educators and students about biotechnology.
As I think about these conversations, I know will enhance the conversations in my classroom in the future. My increased awareness, knowledge, enthusiasm, and confidence in science can not be quantified, but I know that my renewed passion for all things science will show in the classroom.
As the Kenan Fellows Program and the GES center strive to continue the conversations surrounding education and emerging ideas in their respective fields, I feel empowered to go back to my classroom with new knowledge and confidence to start the conversations with students that can lead to passion for science and education in the future.