[CEPCEB_All] Plants3D May 2021 newsletter

[Maureen Gateas]

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*The Plants3D NRT Program Newsletter*
May 2021
*Announcements*

   - Welcome to the Plants3D 2021 Trainees!
   - Plants3D Trainee Forum (required) - Friday May 14th, noon
   - Community Member Highlight: The Dynamic Genome (BIOL20) Course

*Congratulations Plants3D 2021 Cohort!*
We congratulate the new cohort of Plants3D trainees: Annalise
Gushue, Zachary Hartley, Nicholas Delbert-Robertson,  Claire Whitaker,
William Samson,  Stephanie Martinez, and  Nora Flynn. For more information
about each of our new trainees, go to the Plants3D trainee w
<https://ucr.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=20258b97443c8dea22c17955f&id=5752ae5ce8&e=f8eca9c9de>
ebpage
<https://ucr.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=20258b97443c8dea22c17955f&id=6d9bbfdc9e&e=f8eca9c9de>
*Friday, May 14th - noon, Plants3D Trainee Forum*
"Plants3D Trainee Forum"
*Dr. Julia Bailey-Serres and Dr. Ian Wheeldon*
Do you have questions about the Plants3D program as a new or existing
trainee? Are you wondering what we are planning? Please join our informal
Plants3D meeting on May 14th. Feel free to send questions or topics for
discussion to the Plants3D program coordinator Maureen Hummel before May
14th via maureenh at ucr.edu.
Plants3D Community Profile
*The Dynamic Genome Course (BIOL20)*


The Plants3D program seeks to expand the awareness of UCR undergrads to
opportunities in plant sciences, including synthetic and translational
biology. We encourage our trainees to TA for the Dynamic Genome Program's
BIOL20
<https://ucr.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=20258b97443c8dea22c17955f&id=001c74248f&e=f8eca9c9de>.
Other opportunities to impact the next generation within the Dynamic Genome
Program include the SALSA Summer research experience for undergrads and the
Dynamic Genome outreach group to K-12.

*Why should you TA for BIOL20?* "Because it is fun! By spending time in a
hands-on bioinformatics and wet-bench lab with Freshman you get to know
them and you may end up recruiting a student to work with you in the lab",
says Dr. Jim Burnette, who is the lead instructor of the lab. TAs returning
for a second time can design a project with Dr. Burnette and Dr. Matt
Collin.  This will allow you to be "the instructor" and teach part of the
course, with guidance from the official instructors. Also, by doing so, you
can obtain reference letters to help you with your application for teaching
positions or an application to get into the University Teaching Certificate
(UTC) program at UCR.

*What do students learn in BIOL20?* The course gives UCR undergraduates the
unique capability to work on an original research project often designed by
UCR faculty who wish to answer one or multiple unanswered questions in
their research labs.  As the student projects are authentic, students taste
what it is like to work in a research laboratory. At the same time, they
learn that not all laboratory experiments are always successful. The course
runs currently with eight sections, 24 students per section. What is
important to note is that two BIOL20 sections run the same project. This
redundancy is beneficial for a project's success in a short timeframe as
you have more hands to work on a project than when you would do the same
project in a research lab by yourself.

During the first 5 weeks, students get an introduction and learn techniques
such as PCR, gel electrophoresis, BLAST, multiple sequence alignment, and
bacterial transformation. This introductory period is followed by a midterm
and a career day. Students meet during the final 5-week period, twice a
week, for 3 hrs to do an authentic research project.

*What is it like to TA for BIOL20?* To answer this question, we contacted
two former BIOL20 TAs, *Jean Ae* (Ruth) *Kim* in Meng Chen's lab and grad
student *Alison Mills* in Carolyn Rasmussen's lab.

*Jean Ae, a PLANTS3D trainee, shared*: *"TAing for BIOL20 was a unique
experience from my other TA experiences because it was a very collaborative
environment where I worked both with the instructors and the undergraduate
TAs to give hands-on instruction on how research in biology works. I
enjoyed the opportunity to work closely with students and see them grow in
their lab, critical thinking, and communication skills. Each class I taught
was fun. It was great to see the students have a "light bulb" moment where
they grasped the concept of how PCR or cloning works in action.*

*I was able to lead classes on my own and give mini-lectures and
demonstrations on molecular biology or lab skills, which improved my
ability as a teacher and communicator of science (also probably helped me
prepare for my qualifying exam). After the course, a student I taught
joined my lab as a researcher because the class had piqued her interest in
doing research!  *

A core of Plants3D's training is to enhance scientists' ability to
communicate cutting-edge research in a collaborative space and mentor and
lead the next generation of scientists. *"Being a TA in Dynamic Genome
greatly enriched my experience in working with people of different
backgrounds, both students and fellow instructors, to accomplish our
research project goals. It also allowed me to make students enthusiastic
for molecular biology research, which aligned with my training as a Plants
3D fellow." *

*Alison Mills added*: *"Before the pandemic, the TAs had a lot of
opportunities to walk around and help students one on one. It helped me
learn how to demonstrate lab techniques and explain scientific concepts to
students effectively. The skills I learned as a TA were beneficial for
mentoring students in my research lab as well.*

*People unfamiliar with BIOL20 are typically surprised by what first-year
undergraduates can accomplish with a research project! However, the class
prepares the students to tackle a variety of techniques during their
projects. As with actual research, even well-planned projects hit snags or
need modification. To make the necessary modifications to the project
during the quarter, TAs work closely with very knowledgeable, helpful, and
kind instructors. It is beneficial for undergraduates and TAs how to
communicate science in a written form. The students write a final report
that the TAs can review and offer feedback to the TA and instructors. *

*My project with the students involved designing guide RNAs to knock out
genes involved in the division of plane orientation. The project had to be
done remotely due to the pandemic, but it was very successful. We collected
many usable guide RNAs designed by students targeting 100+ genes over the
two quarters we did the project remotely. If we had been able to meet in
person, students could have helped clone the guide RNA sequences into
vectors.  If you are interested to see how you can implement Alison's
project in an undergraduate laboratory course, please read her manuscript
here (https://www.preprints.org/manuscript/202008.0619/v1
<https://ucr.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=20258b97443c8dea22c17955f&id=a1e63a253a&e=f8eca9c9de>).
Although the manuscript is currently under review, it will hopefully get
published in the J*ournal of Microbiology and Biology Education*. *

Do you have a fantastic research project idea and would like to get
involved? Contact Dr. Jim Burnette at jamesbur at ucr.edu or Dr. Matt Collin
at matthew.collin at ucr.edu.

The Dynamic Genome Program was established by Distinguished Professor *Sue
Wessler
<https://ucr.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=20258b97443c8dea22c17955f&id=68615bb90a&e=f8eca9c9de>*,
who is a member of the Plants3D Leadership team. Dr. Wessler is a renowned
plant geneticist and educator. She is a member and Secretary of the US
National Academy of Sciences and the American Philosophical Society, as
well as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) professor. The Dynamic
Genome has been funded by the HHMI and many other sources, most
notably by *Rochelle
and Allison Campbel*l, to continue the mission of education in Biology by *Neil
A. Campbell*, author of the textbook *Biology*.

Or go to https://dynamicgenome.ucr.edu/biology-20
<https://ucr.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=20258b97443c8dea22c17955f&id=ec35f90fb2&e=f8eca9c9de>
for
more information.


Photos below show undergraduates at work during a BIOL20 class.
*Trainee Information and Tips*

Do you want your research or outreach to be featured on our website or in a
newsletter? Do you want changes in your bio? Do you have an idea for the
community to share? Do you want to feature your PI or a new paper?

Please email the Plants3D NRT Program Coordinator, Maureen Hummel, about
your accomplishments with "Plants3D product" as your subject.

Be sure to acknowledge your NSF funding on every abstract, poster, and
manuscript as follows:
"Funded by the US National Science Foundation, DBI-1922642".

*Program Contacts*
Julia Bailey-Serres,
University Distinguished Professor,
Botany and Plant Sciences
serres at ucr.edu
*
Ian Wheeldon,
Professor,
Chemical and Environmental Engineering
Ian.wheeldon at ucr.edu
*
Maureen Hummel,
Program Coordinator
maureenh at ucr.edu
Plants3D NRT Website
<https://ucr.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=20258b97443c8dea22c17955f&id=810c89b873&e=f8eca9c9de>
*Copyright © 2021 Plants3D NSF NRT *DBI-1922642*, All rights reserved.*
plants3d.ucr.edu







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