{"id":13849,"date":"2022-01-25T08:31:15","date_gmt":"2022-01-25T13:31:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/currents\/?p=13849"},"modified":"2024-05-02T15:13:38","modified_gmt":"2024-05-02T19:13:38","slug":"straight-from-a-scientist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/currents\/2022\/01\/straight-from-a-scientist\/","title":{"rendered":"Straight from a Scientist"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

BY CONNOR WANDER<\/strong><\/p>\n

Connor Wander is a postdoctoral associate at Alkahest, Inc. and a recent graduate in pharmacology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Outside of the lab, he enjoys graphic design, gaming, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, paintball, and caring for his bearded dragons.<\/em><\/p>\n

Humans are a playful species. Games can be educational, but balancing learning and fun presents a unique challenge.\u00a0The Scientific Research and Education Network (SciREN)<\/a>, through a partnership with motivated and talented Wake County Public School System students, has turned learning upside down.\u00a0\u201cStraight from a Scientist<\/a>\u201d offers free educational science games on the brain, virology, and the ever-present coronavirus.<\/p>\n

Straight from a Scientist\u2019s mission is to inform, inspire, and investigate.\u00a0We produced podcasts, infographics, and articles on cutting-edge science.\u00a0Like the farm-to-table supply chain, research results straight from a scientist are fresh and unprocessed, highlighting the diversity, personality, and nuance of each scientist and research path.<\/p>\n

In late 2019 and early 2020, I was recording and uploading video and audio podcasts to Youtube, Spotify, and Stitcher, capturing scientists in their \u201cnatural habitat.\u201d But as we all know, 2020 brought COVID-19.\u00a0Lab work slowed, stopped, then restarted at a crawl.\u00a0 Meetings and seminars became exclusively virtual.<\/p>\n

Since onsite podcasts weren\u2019t viable, we chose a different tack: science games.<\/p>\n

I started small and with a familiar topic: the brain.\u00a0My graduate research focused on the interaction between different types of brain cells in Alzheimer\u2019s disease and aging.\u00a0Alzheimer\u2019s is an age-related neurodegenerative disease, which eventually leads to death by causing the loss of neurons \u2014 key brain cells that generate electrical signals and shuttle information to control thoughts and impulses.\u00a0Other cell types, like astrocytes and microglia, keep the brain clean and running smoothly.\u00a0These cells vastly outnumber neurons and could be the key to curing diseases like Alzheimer\u2019s.<\/p>\n

I first demoed the proof-of-concept game, \u201cNot Just Neurons,\u201d<\/a> at the SciREN open house in 2020.\u00a0Interest from teachers was clear, but the game was rough around the edges.<\/p>\n

A group of creative and hard-working students at Apex High \u2014\u00a0Jason Wills, Priya Cilukiru, Munish Nidadavolu, and Shubham Pancholi \u2014 joined the project to help polish games in development and design new ones.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Pictured left to right : Priya Chilukiru, Connor Wander, Shubman Pancholi, Munish Nidadavolu<\/p><\/div>\n

Through online meetings, we drew up plans for expanding Straight from a Scientist\u2019s catalog, starting with the coronavirus<\/a>.\u00a0Calvin Yeager, a Ph.D. student in virology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, provided expertise.\u00a0Calvin also runs a science podcast we highly recommend, \u201cCurioscity<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Together, we broke down topics into simple explanations, and we designed the game around different subtopics, including \u201cWhat Are Viruses?\u201d, \u201cViral Replication,\u201d and \u201cFlattening the Curve.\u201d<\/p>\n

Straight from a Scientist now hosts a dozen game modules available for free on our website<\/a>, most of which are aimed at helping students understand how viruses work and how to stay safe during the current pandemic.\u00a0Tablets or computers work best for these games.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re still working on them and designing new ones \u2014 so if there\u2019s a change you\u2019d like to see or a science topic you\u2019re dying to hear about, let us know.<\/p>\n

Connect with us on Twitter<\/a>, Instagram<\/a>, Facebook<\/a>, or our website<\/a>.<\/p>\n


\nThe Scientific Research and Education Network (SciREN)<\/a> aims to connect local STEM researchers and educators to foster the dissemination of current research and ultimately enhance the science literacy of today\u2019s youth. For years, North\u00a0Carolina Sea Grant and a number of partners have supported and\/or collaborated with the network.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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