M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust of Vancouver, Wash., has awarded a $15,000 grant to Gonzaga under their Partners in Science Program, providing research opportunities for high school science teachers and undergraduate students to work together in advanced research labs.
Bree Reynolds, a high school science teacher at Wellipinit High School in Wellpinit, Wash., and Brook Swanson, assistant professor of biology at Gonzaga, came together and submitted a proposal for the grant program with the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust.
The grant will enable Reynolds to work with Swanson in Gonzaga's cutting-edge research facilities for eight to 10 weeks for the next two summers. The two will conduct research with the material property of plants.
The grant will not only benefit Gonzaga but also Wellpinit High School. Gonzaga students will gain practical experience in a research lab setting, and the local high school will gain improved classroom instruction within their very own science department.
"Reynolds will work with other Gonzaga undergraduates on research projects, advancing Gonzaga's research program," Swanson said. "This is also a great opportunity for Gonzaga to reach out and help improve high school teaching."
The grant will also benefit the university in that one of its alumni is directly involved.
A graduate of the Master's in Organizational Leadership and MIT programs from Gonzaga, Reynolds said the grant will benefit Gonzaga and classroom instruction in high school science. Reynolds and several undergraduate students will be working with the material properties of plants used in traditional indigenous technologies, Swanson said. His lab primarily studies how animals and plants make the materials to build structures, such as spider silk.
"One of the reasons we are interested in these biomaterials is that they are stronger and tougher than almost anything we can make in modern technology," Swanson said. Traditional plants used to construct ropes, tools and baskets will also be studied by Reynolds to better understand why these specific plants are chosen for these specific uses, Swanson said.
The Murdock Trust, created by the will of late Melvin J. (Jack) Murdock, provides grants to organizations throughout the Pacific Northwest. Seeking organizations that strive to strengthen the region's educational and cultural base, the Murdock Trust chose Gonzaga for one of 25 research grant awards in 2009. According to a university news release, applications were accepted from high school teachers and mentors from a five-state region in the Northwest. The selections are based on the qualifications of the partner members, the quality of the scientific research proposed by the participating members, and the potential of its impact on the high school setting.
The Partnership in Science Program was founded by Research Corp., a foundation created for the advancement of science. With its original headquarters in Tucson, Ariz., the program was founded in 1988 to improve science education and to increase the number of students studying science as a career.
Merging in 1990, Research Corporation and The M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust began funding for the program in the Northwest as well as providing some additional support in services to partners in the region.
Set to begin working this summer, Reynolds and Swanson are excited to work together in the research setting.
"This project is a new area for me," Swanson said. "This grant will allow my lab to do some different and new things, while supporting a local high school teacher and helping to improve culturally relevant science teaching."
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