LIFE SCIENCES PARTNERSHIP

The 11 visiting scientists from the state’s public health laboratory explained the hands-on activities that the 46 9^th and 10^th grade students from Varina High School’s Center for Environmental Studies & Sustainability would do during their class that day and the safety protocols expected for the workstations.

“What is the first order of business,” asked Crystal Barret, the training group manager for the Virginia Department of General Services (DGS) Division of Consolidated Laboratory Services (DCLS).

“Safety,” replied the students.

During the next three hours, the students took turns identifying and differentiating microbes, preparing cultures and observing the different shapes and sizes of bacteria, performing gram stains, and preparing and interpreting API biochemical identification strips—all activities that DGS DCLS scientists perform on a regular basis as part of their jobs.

The visit by DCLS scientists to the Center for Environmental Studies and Sustainability was the first of two classroom events comprising the DCLS Life Sciences pilot program, conceived by the Virginia Bioscience Foundation and funded in part by GO Virginia. Planning started back in the summer of 2023 and bridges life sciences together with environmental sciences.

GO Virginia also has funded in part another program that connects LifeNet Health with AP biology students at Landstown High School in Virginia Beach. This multi-pronged approach aims to broaden access to life science education and opportunities for students across Virginia.

The DCLS program pairs scientists with students from Varina High School to stimulate an interest in public health and the life science industry, including public and private research and development, medical laboratories, manufacturing of pharmaceutical and biotechnology products, medical devices, and distribution of healthcare products.

“The hands-on learning approach is a win for our kids,” said Jill Rich, the Engineering and Technology Education Teacher at Varina High School. “They appreciated seeing real life application of all they are learning.”

DCLS sees the program as a win-win for both DCLS scientists and students.

“Through this program, we are hoping to give experience to our internal staff with interacting with diverse communities,” said Bibbs Freeman. “But we also are hoping to give students the opportunity to make science attainable and accessible. Long term, our goal is to promote the sciences and encourage young people to seek careers in public health.”

During their next visit to Varina High School in April, DCLS plans to focus on genetics over two days. Bibbs Freeman said the material will cover DNA, RNA and the human genome by having the students work with hands-on models.

The DCLS newborn screening and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) sequencing teams will work with the students on what differences in genetic structures look like and how that is used by public health scientist to tell the difference between normal and variant viruses.

With the pilot program in full swing, DCLS, the Virginia Bioscience Foundation and GO Virginia hope to establish a sustainable statewide program pairing industry and government scientists with both high school and middle school students, particularly in under-represented areas.

“Partnerships like these are invaluable to creating pipelines for strong workforce and careers in the future,” said Bibbs Freeman. “I think it is really important that industries look at making more partnerships like these in the future.”