Germs and Bugs Take Over Pinelands Regional High School and How a Visit to my Alma Mater Inspires Scientists-to-be
- Lindsey Markowitz
- Nov 14, 2024
- 3 min read
Updated: Dec 1, 2024
November 12th-14th, 2024
Most high school students aren't very happy when they hear they'll be having a guest lecturer come in for a few days, but that wasn't the case at Pinelands Regional High School when the students spotted me walking in that morning with a bee box. Instead, they were abuzz with curiosity when I was asked if there were live bees, and I responded with, "Well... I did take them all out before I came into the school."
That initial curiosity continued strong for several days while I guest lectured and led labs with students from all different backgrounds, whether they were from the Environmental Science, Ecology, AP Biology, General Biology, Pre-Health Honors, AP US History, or Resource Room classes.
During my lectures, I walked the students through the basics of why pollinators are essential to our food source and global economy, the role pollinators play in their local cranberry bog agriculture, basic bee biology, and why the USDA has an entire Bee Research Laboratory dedicated to studying the many threats they encounter.
While my lectures did capture their interest, the real fun began when I started to bring out the educational materials I brought for them to interact with. Students were able to handle educational frames modeled after real frames from a beehive, look at preserved Varroa destructor mites (mites that vector a detrimental virus of honey bees), and handle 3D-printed Varroa mite models.
In addition to being able to handle the educational materials, I was able to demonstrate to the students how I work with the bees on a daily basis using a dormant frame from a hive. Students were able to see the beeswax structure of frames, bee pupae of several ages, and what brood cells look like while I gave guided explanations of what they were seeing.
I was also able to lead laboratory sessions for several classes, where I instructed students on how to make wet mount slides and use microscopes to view trypanosomatid parasite cultures. The students were able to work with pathogens that I had lectured them about previously and visualized the cells and structures that aid in their infection potential.
While science was one of the main topics I covered during my time visiting Pinelands, the other topic I covered was the process of becoming a scientist. I shared with the students my path to a career in science and the choices I made along the way to get me to the position that I currently hold.
The students were given the opportunity to have a Q&A session following my lecture and inquired about everything from "Do bees like jazz music?" to "What experiences as a high school student do you think prepared you the most for graduate school?"
It's rare that high school students get time to ask such free-flowing questions, and it was an extremely rewarding and fulfilling experience to spend the time talking, sharing advice, and instructing them.
According to feedback from the teachers whose classes I spoke with, several students have since expressed excitement and interest in pursuing additional science education post-graduation. They mentioned that hearing from someone who was once in the same position they are currently in put the reality of pursuing higher education and eventually a career in science into perspective and that it no longer seems so unattainable.
In my opinion, this sentiment is exactly why scientific outreach is so incredibly important. Outreach events such as this truly do help inspire young scientists-to-be, and seeing my own past instructors who inspired my journey and contributed to where I am today is proof of that.
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