Photo By Quentin Johnson | A Walkersville Middle School student participates in an activity designed to simulate...... read more read more
FORT DETRICK, Md. – A Soldier and civilians from the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases hosted STEM-related activities for middle-school girls during STEM education nights at Governor Thomas Johnson Middle School in Frederick, Jan. 15 and 22, 2025.
USAMRIID works with the Medical Research and Development Command's Outreach and Partnerships office to provide support to the Sisters Wholesome Aspiring towards Greatness, or SWAG program of the Empowering Community Leaders Network by volunteering for their annual education nights.
The ECLN is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide educational and cultural enhancement opportunities that foster leadership development in middle school girls, according to their website.
USAMRIID research microbiologist Raina Kumar presented on “Exploring DNA: the code of life,” which taught students how bioinformatics helps scientists understand genetic information from DNA sequences, identify traits, and solve real-world problems in health and agriculture.
"I thoroughly enjoyed teaching and learning from the students," says Kumar. “The girls particularly appreciated the team-building aspect of the exercise and participated enthusiastically.”
USAMRIID’s Chief of Pathology, Lt. Col. Diana Hoffman, histology laboratory manager Holly Bloomfield, and research program administrator Michelle Richards led the students through a workshop on the topic of biosafety level 3 and 4 procedures and organisms.
Hoffman says that part of USAMRIID’s mission is to ensure the safety and security of biological scientific laboratories that are essential for the protection of the scientists, as well as the security of the microbes with which experiments are performed to gather knowledge to improve the health of humans all over the world.
"Having grown up in a family of scientists and medical personnel, I often take for granted how much I knew about science and medicine growing up," says Hoffman. "The workshops broaden the students’ understanding of laboratory safety, how much effort is required and how important it is for keeping researchers and their surrounding communities safe."
"Educational outreach like this introduces students to different life skills, particularly how to develop the skills they need to lead in the future,” says Kumar. “This approach helps build their confidence and abilities.”
For West Frederick Middle School student, the presenters opened her eyes to new experiences and opportunities she didn’t know existed that could inspire her to do more with her life and future career.
“The presenters come from various career backgrounds, and those career backgrounds may not be in the same career I want to do, but they influence and inspire me in ways I can’t predict or imagine,” says the student.
The student says she really enjoyed the challenges of the activities and the principles behind each lesson, but most important for her was how encouraging it felt to be part of a team.
“I was able to learn a lot more and process the presenter’s information more with the help of my team,” she says.
Hoffman says the students provided plenty of positive feedback and quality comments on the presentations, inspiring the team to want to do even better in future years.
| Date Taken: | 02.21.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 02.21.2025 12:46 |
| Story ID: | 491238 |
| Location: | FORT DETRICK, MARYLAND, US |
| Web Views: | 90 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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