BIORETS: Research Experience for Teachers

• Opportunity to conduct cutting-edge research in neuroscience
• Opportunity to participate in professional development activities
• $10,000 stipend
  • $5,000 for completing the summer research and developing a classroom research project to implement in the following school year.
  • $2,500 for the implementation of the classroom project into their teaching.
  • $2,500 stipend for the presentation of the project and participation in the Converse STAR Teachers of SC Conference.
  • Reduced on-campus rate is available to residential teachers.
  • $2,000 for materials and supplies to implement the classroom research project.
  • Continuing Education Credit from Converse University.

• Each selected teacher will be placed with a Converse research team.
• 4 hours per week is dedicated to professional development activities as a cohort.
• 6 weeks engaging in research and professional development activities (June 17 – July 26, 2024)
• 1 hour/month follow up meeting with the education faculty and the principle investigator for lesson plan implementation.
• Attending at the Converse University Summer Research Symposium.
• Attend the Star Teachers of South Carolina Symposium at Converse University to share the implementation of content related to your summer experience.
• Submit a final, classroom-tested version of any lesson plans and associated content by the end of the 2024-2025 school year.
• Priority will be given to teachers from Spartanburg and Greenville Country Public Schools.

Mark Bohler

Bohler Laboratory – Rats in HATs

Hello! I am Dr. Mark Bohler, a recent PhD graduate from Virginia Tech where I studied neurological and endocrine regulation of appetite in birds. At Converse University, I study the effect that high ambient temperatures (HATs) have on appetite regulation in rats – aka: Rats in HATs. While teaching and conducting research, I emphasize the importance of understanding a response (the what), the mechanisms mediating that response (the how) and the reason that the response occurs given a certain stimulus (the why). In this program, we will explore how HAT affects appetite-related behaviors, and subsequently how a small portion of the brain regulates this response. We will focus on the region of the brain most responsible for feeding and stress behaviors, as well as temperature sensation and thermoregulation; the hypothalamus. You will be working closely with two undergraduate students to explore the neurological basis of appetite regulation in HAT exposed rats. You will also have opportunities to mentor high school students who are actively conducting research of their own at Converse University.

Note: Working in this laboratory environment includes the handling of animals, animal blood, and animal tissues.

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Ed Griffin

Griffin Laboratory – Exploring how specific cellular trafficking mechanisms result in plaque deposition characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease; Examining the effect of dental microbes on neurodegeneration in C. elegans models of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.

I am Dr. Ed Griffin. My research focuses on how distinct parts of the infrastructure in a neuron work together in response to neurodegenerative disease. In my lab, we use an organism called C. elegans, a metazooan that grows to 1mm in length at adulthood, yet has a robust nervous system. While teaching, I focus on the governing principles of phenomena and how they apply in myriad ways. In the research lab, I extend this to include the reasoning behind the process of research – how the hypothesis is the center of any scientific work, how we organize our controls and variables in the best way to test the hypothesis, and how we communicate most effectively to describe it. We will be working closely with 3 undergraduate researchers applying modern tools of bacterial culture, genetic manipulation, and neuronal analysis.

I will have two projects available for the STARS Teachers of South Carolina:
1. Exploring how specific cellular trafficking mechanisms result in plaque deposition characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease.
2. Examining the effect of dental microbes on neurodegeneration in C. elegans models of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.

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Richard Keen

Keen Laboratory – The Effects of Adenosine on Temporal Perception

My name is Dr. Richard Keen and I am chair of the Psychology Department at Converse University. For the past 25 years, I have worked on various projects focused on factors that affect your ability to perceive the passage of time. Have you ever sat in a one hour meeting that seemed to take three hours? Conversely, have you ever had such a good time that time appeared to just fly by? Various pharmaceuticals can cause similar effects as well. Our lab found that caffeine can speed up temporal perception. Caffeine is an adenosine antagonist, in other words, it prevents your natural adenosine from working. This summer, we are going to try to reverse the effect, to slow down temporal perception, by giving extra adenosine. You will be working closely with two undergraduate students and have opportunities to mentor high school students who are actively conducting research of their own at Converse University.

Note: Working in this laboratory environment includes the handling of rats and injections.

Watch Dr. Keen in action