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ASPB
EDUCATION FORUM
Foundation-Supported Education Projects
Reach Teachers, Gardeners, County Fairs
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| Peggy
Lemaux |
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Thousands of educators
and students have been introduced to ASPB and the principles of genetically
modified foods through two-time Grant Award Program (GAP) winner Dr.
Peggy Lemaux. Her project, first funded in 2004 by ASPB’s Education
Foundation GAP, is a mobile exhibit of displays, baseball card–type
handouts, and an educational game aimed at explaining the importance of
plants and biotechnology to the general public. The project involves three
components: two displays, Foods: Past and Present and Genes, Genomics,
and Diversity, and the game Tic Tac Grow.
The exhibit traveled
to the 2006 National Science Teachers’ Association (NSTA) annual
meeting, where it was received enthusiastically. “All of the cards
went out, and we got many questions from teachers about how to get more,”
said Mary Williams, ASPB Education Committee chair. Lemaux also
confirmed that NSTA is considering running an article on her exhibit in
its Reports magazine.
Seventeen organizations,
from the Master Gardener Club to the Monterey County (California) Fair,
have used the exhibit in the past year. Additionally, the Biotechnology
Institute, an organization dedicated to teaching educators, students,
and the public about the promise and challenges of genetic modification,
has requested the cards for their many workshops throughout the year.
The project’s
widespread distribution has created additional funding opportunities as
well. The USDA Coordinated Agricultural Project (CAP) has asked Lemaux
and her associate, Barbara Alonso, to develop outreach materials
for RiceCAP and BarleyCAP. These programs are working to develop biotechnology
tools to improve quality, yield, and disease resistance in these important
food crops. USDA awarded BarleyCAP $5 million in March.
Federal recognition
of the program was not an initial goal. “This project has succeeded
well beyond our expectations, and without the support of ASPB, we would
not have been able to complete the project,” Lemaux said.
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