GEMS serves both as a hub that ties together existing campus resources and as an incubator for the development of new courses, collaborative relationships, and scientific communication. Our courses integrate students, faculty, and researchers across our member institutions to learn skills ranging from genomic research to science communication and teaching.
K-12 Curriculum Development
GEMS faculty and graduate trainees co-develop curriculum materials with professional K-12 science teachers. GEMS education and outreach activities, such as the Translating Science course and GEMS Institute summer workshops, served as engines of initial development, testing, and feedback in the ongoing development of these curricula.
GEMS graduate students (in science and education) are collaboratively developing materials and resources for student-led investigations based on GEMS science. We use the theme of a “garden investigation” to touch on ideas such as plant-pollinator relationships, soil health and microbes, water cycles and healthy water ecosystems. Within the context of building a healthy garden, students choose what to focus on to compel their knowledge forward. The embedded foci include the following curricula.
Community Engagement
GEMS has partnered with established community programs to share our research and foster scientific curiosity to inspire the next generation of scientists. GEMS faculty and trainees are active participants who have developed new science outreach materials and activities, in partnership with X-Time, the Champaign Park District, and others.
From the Lab Notebook (Podcast)
Through interviews with trainees, this podcast aims to provide trainees the opportunity to share their research, passion and science journey with the public. Each episode explores research conducted by GEMS trainees with a chance for audience questions every fourth episode. In preparation for each episode, trainees have the opportunity to be mentored in science communication.
Stay tuned for our first episode.
Full S.T.E.A.M. Ahead
In a partnership between the Champaign Park District, X-Time, and the University of Illinois, GEMS graduate students design and test their ideas for activities based on GEMS research in Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics-focused after-school activities for third- through seventh-graders and their parents.
X-PLORE Summer Camp
GEMS faculty and trainees collaborate with X-Time in Champaign, Illinois to develop and implement summer camp activities. In one activity, campers examine critters in pond water and explore various types of aquatic invertebrates. In another, campers grow and identify microorganisms from a range of soil samples.
Courses and Seminars
GEMS serves both as a hub that ties together existing campus resources and as an incubator for the development of new courses, collaborative relationships, and scientific communication. Our courses integrate students, faculty, and researchers across our member institutions to learn skills ranging from genomic research to science communication and teaching.
Computational and Analytical Genomics Training
Developed by team members in Indiana University, this course provides computational and analytical training for GEMS graduate trainees to analyze data generated by projects in the GEMS program. The course covers 3-4 analysis workflows, with each workflow beginning with a seminar-style discussion on the theoretical background and biological context of the analyses, followed by a structured tutorial working with demo data, and ending with designated time to help students apply each protocol to their own data generated by other GEMS projects.
Exploring Microbial Diversity
Although microbes are essential to every ecosystem, less than 1% have been cultured in the lab where they are easier to study. This laboratory-based course, offered at the University of Illinois, teaches graduate students how to design culturing strategies to target and grow microbes from natural environments. In addition, the class focuses, as an example, on microbes associated with plants (clover) and animals (bees) from the Kellogg Biological Station Long-Term Ecological Research (KBS LTER) site.
GEMS SciComm
This informal seminar series (at fun locations!) was named SciComm for both science communication and science community, and is held on the last Friday of every month. The series started in summer 2022 as we returned to on-campus activities to help develop community within the GEMS institute, with a focus on supporting GEMS graduate students.
GEMS Seminar Series
Translating Science course: Connecting the Next Generation Scientist with K-12 Teachers
This graduate-level seminar course, developed by GEMS faculty at the University of Illinois and Indiana University, supports GEMS trainees to learn about and develop meaningful outreach activities. Increasingly, professional researchers need to integrate outreach activities with their research proposals when applying to funding opportunities. This course helps graduate students develop a foundational understanding of teaching methods through practice, implementation, and feedback from licensed science educators. Course content includes theoretical foundation and practical tools needed to develop curriculum and outreach materials grounded in science education literature, policy, and best practices.
Summer Workshops & Research Opportunities
Our summer workshops offer intensive professional training and support for K-12 educators and pre-professional undergraduate researchers. Virtual and traditional research experience opportunities allow undergraduates from local community colleges in Illinois and Indiana to connect with GEMS trainees and faculty and engage in ongoing research.
Summer Workshops for GEMS Institute K-12 Teachers
GEMS hosts a series of professional development opportunities for K-12 teachers in Illinois and Indiana who are interested in being part of the GEMS Institute. Teachers develop curriculum materials linked to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and based on GEMS science.
Distributed Science CORPS (Collaborative Opportunities in Research to Promote Success)
This is a fully remote, part-time research experience in biology for community college students in Indiana and Illinois led by GEMS trainees in collaboration with GEMS faculty members. The program allows students to participate in a distributed ecological study on seed predation as well as attend online professional development meetings on scientific research and STEM careers.
Genomic Science CORPS
In this 8-week online summer workshop, GEMS graduate trainees and postdocs mentor undergraduate researchers to address the increasing need for a workforce trained in computational biology and genomics. The workshop aims to take undergraduate students from introductory programming to genomic analysis of a single microbial genome, including predicted variation of phenotypes such as antibiotic resistance.
Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU)
Each summer, GEMS runs a 10-week research experience for undergraduates (REU) program for students from local community colleges in Illinois and Indiana. REU students are co-mentored by a GEMS faculty member and a graduate student or postdoc. At each institution, incoming REU students also join an established summer research training program to participate in career-building workshops and connect with a cohort of undergraduate colleagues working across disciplines. During this paid summer program, successful applicants participate in research that spans microbiology, plant biology, entomology, science education, and related fields.