SCF earns biotechnology grant

Local education officials last week announced a $187,000 grant from the National Science Foundation’s Technological Education Program will fund the Biotechnology Alliance for the Suncoast Biology Educators pilot project.

The program, developed and conducted by State College of Florida staff, integrates high school teacher training with the use of biotechnology tools in their classrooms, thus increasing the number of students who are prepared for careers in the related fields.

“Earning this prestigious grant results from a true collaboration between educators at SCF and the local school districts,” SCF President Dr. Lars A. Hafner said. “This partnership connects a seamless sequence of science education from our schools to SCF to universities and to industry and institutes such as Roskamp, Mote Marine and Jackson Labs.”

The faculty-initiated program was developed by SCF life sciences faculty members Jane Pfeilsticker, Dr. Matthew Keirle and Dr. Andrew Swanson in conjunction with science curriculum specialists Susan Puchalla, of Sarasota County Public Schools, and Judith Griffin, of Manatee County Public Schools.

The joint announcement was made April 8 at an SCF biology lab where Pfeilsticker and Keirle demonstrated two “Labs in a Box”— “Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism Analysis” and “P Glow Transformation”— which are used to conduct experiments such as DNA fingerprinting for crime scene or paternity tests or for production of synthetic human insulin for diabetes treatment.