Biology Summer Institute

Let us help you motivate your students to learn

Are you a high school educator teaching biology in Indiana? Would you like new innovative activities and experiments to enrich your students’ conceptual understanding of biology? We can help. Apply for the five-day Biology Summer Institute at the Indiana University Department of Biology.

Class of 2024. — **Slide 1:** Teachers participating in the BSI (Class of 2023) pose for a group photo outside of the Biology Building on the IU Bloomington campus.

Teachers observing nematodes under a microscope with Dr. Erik Ragsdale at Biology Summer Institute at IU Department of Biology. — **Slide 2:** Teachers at BSI observe nematodes under a microscope with Associate Professor Erik Ragsdale (left, standing).

Teachers pipetting Daphnia in the lab with Dr. Spencer Hall at Biology Summer Institute at IU Department of Biology. — **Slide 3:** Teachers at BSI pipette *Daphnia* in the lab with Professor Spencer Hall (center).

Teachers setting up experiments in the lab with Dr. Jake McKinlay and Dr. Crystal Love. — **Slide 4:** Teachers at BSI set up experiments in the lab with Professor Jake McKinlay (right) and Postdoctoral Fellow Crystal Love (second from right).

BSI teacher alumna shares her experiences with the new class of BSI teachers at Biology Summer Institute at IU Department of Biology. — **Slide 5:** A BSI teacher alumna shares her experiences with the new class of BSI teachers.

Dr. David Kehoe demonstrating experimental procedures with cyanobacteria during the Biology Summer Institute at the IU Department of Biology. — **Slide 6:** Professor David Kehoe demonstrates experimental procedures with cyanobacteria.

Group photo of teachers participating in Biology Summer Institute at IU Department of Biology. — **Slide 7:** Teachers participating in the BSI (Class of 2019) gather after a faculty seminar for a group photo outside of the Biology Building on the IU Bloomington campus.

A teacher develops a research-based lesson plan for his high-school classroom using photoplankton and their responses to different wavelengths of light at the Biology Summer Institute at the IU Department of Biology. — **Slide 8:** A teacher at BSI develops a research-based lesson plan for his high-school classroom using photoplankton and their responses to different wavelengths of light.

Teachers having fun at the Biology Summer Institute at the IU Department of Biology. — **Slide 9:** Teachers at BSI work together to develop innovative lessons based on research while also having fun.

Discussion among teachers, Dr. Julia van Kessel, and graduate student Alyssa Ball during Biology Summer Institute at IU's Department of Biology. — **Slide 10:** Discussion among BSI teachers, Associate Professor Julia van Kessel (second from left), and graduate student Alyssa Ball (center).

Teachers touring the IU Bloomington Light Microscopy Imaging Center and viewing the mitotic spindle with 3D glasses during the Biology Summer Institute. — **Slide 12:** Teachers tour the IU Bloomington Light Microscopy Imaging Center during BSI. Here they wear 3D glasses to view a mitotic spindle.

Biology Summer Institute

At the Biology Summer Institute, you and another high school teacher will join one research laboratory for a week where you will work directly with a faculty mentor and members of the mentor’s lab to develop hands-on activities to use in your classrooms. You will also meet other faculty members and learn about their ongoing research, tour our world-class facilities, and share the Bloomington campus experience with other teachers from Indiana. No prior lab experience is necessary.

The Biology Summer Institute connects you and your students to ongoing research in our department, increasing students’ general understanding of biology. Simultaneously, the program provides you, as a teacher, with an opportunity to learn about the latest research in multiple biology research areas and to develop novel tools to motivate and educate your students. The program also offers you the chance to deepen your collaborations with individual IU Biology faculty, which could lead to further collaboration through National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Teachers (NSF RET) grants.

Meet the faculty

David Kehoe

Microbial cell biology and environmental responses

Mirrors are used to reflect different colors of light onto beakers with samples of the ocean bacterium Synechococcus. — Mirrors are used to reflect different colors of light onto beakers with samples of the widespread ocean bacterium *Synechococcus* during a study overseen by Kehoe. The study explained for the first time a key part of a process that allows *Synechococcus* to efficiently convert sunlight into oxygen. Photo courtesy of David Kehoe

Jake McKinlay

Microbial
cell biology and metabolism

One of McKinlay's illustrations describing flagella unfurling as E. coli enter the oxygen-rich zone of a microbial mat, inhabited by algae and cyanobacteria, as purple bacteria harvest the dim light in the anoxic zone below. — An illustration by McKinlay describing flagella unfurling as *E. coli* enter the oxygen-rich zone of a microbial mat, inhabited by algae and cyanobacteria, as purple bacteria harvest the dim light in the anoxic zone below. Illustration by Jake McKinlay

Erik Ragsdale

Developmental mechanisms and regulation

Diplogastrellus nematode. — *Diplogastrellus* nematodes feed on dung microbes as part of a mutualism with dung beetles. Using nematode feeding structures as a model, the Ragsdale lab studies how local environments interact with genes to influence the development of functionally diverse traits. Photo courtesy of Erik Ragsdale

Julia van Kessel

Microbial cell biology and responses

‘Painting’ with bioluminescent Vibrio harveyi, the model organism for quorum sensing studies in Vibrio species: The glow from the plates spell out 'LuxR' and 'quorum sensing' and show a drawing of a Vibrio bacterium. — ‘Painting’ with bioluminescent *Vibrio harveyi*, the model organism for quorum sensing studies in Vibrio species. Quorum sensing controls expression of the bioluminescence genes in *V. harveyi*, which enables the cells to ‘glow in the dark’ when grown at high densities. Photo by van Kessel lab

Andy Zelhof

Genetics and development

Cross section of an adult Drosophila retina. The photoreceptors are in green and the rahbdomeres are in magenta. — Cross section of an adult *Drosophila* retina. The photoreceptors are in green and the rhabdomeres are in magenta. Image by Andy Zelhof

The details

When: June 24-28, 2024

Where: Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana

Stipend: $750

Tentative daily schedule:

9–10 a.m.	Participating faculty member will provide participants with an overview of his/her research and a lab tour.
10–10:30 a.m.	Discussion with faculty
10:30 a.m.–12 noon	Teachers will work with designated faculty members (2 teachers/faculty member) to discuss, prepare, and test their exercises/experiments.
12 noon–1 p.m.	Lunch
1–5 p.m.	Additional time to prepare exercises, test, and write-up of work as well as periodic facility tours

How to apply

Applications for the 2024 Biology Summer Institute closed on April 5, 2024.

Questions?

Email us at bsi@iu.edu.

Banner image (top of page): Biology teachers participating in the Biology Summer Institute pipette Daphnia in the lab with Professor Spencer Hall (center).

Biology Summer Institute

Let us help you motivate your students to learn

Biology Summer Institute

Meet the faculty

The details

How to apply

Questions?

Department of Biology social media channels

The College of Arts & Sciences