Opportunities

Science Sponsor Project Opportunities for 22-23: Extended Deadline to apply is 9/28/22; students will be notified of decision by 9/30/22

Application process: The student, or up to three student team, must provide in writing enough specific information of the what, how, and why, of the research plan so we understand the details of the project and the value of the impact. High-level, generalized ideas will not be funded. Email the plan to Shawn by 4:00 pm on 9/28/22. The information will be reviewed. The donor may select students to interview.

Blue-Green Algae Toxic Bacteria – If you are interested in researching Blue-Green Algae Toxic Bacteria and figure out how to test for it waterside or how to differentiate blue-green algae from regular algae, and selected following a competitive process, you will receive $1,000 worth of supply funds and have access to a SME (subject matter expert) and/or mentor. The specific goal is to develop a waterside test for the bacteria, rather than sending the bacteria to an out of state lab for confirmation. The teacher and student receive up to $250 based on milestone expectations when the project is completed. (One project opportunity available)

Honeysuckle – If you are interested in researching how to eradicate or prevent from spreading or populating invasive honeysuckle, and selected following a competitive process, you will receive $1,000 worth of supply funds. The teacher and student receive up to $250 based on milestone expectations when the project is completed. (One project opportunity available)

Asian Carp Fish – If you are interested in researching Asian Carp to figure out how to herd or move them, direct or trap them, or something to repulse them from an area, and selected following a competitive process, you will receive up to $1,000 worth of supply funds and have access to a SME (subject matter expert) and mentor. The teacher and student receive up to $250 based on milestone expectations when the project is completed. (One project opportunity available)

Medical Laboratory Sciences (MLS) – If you are interested in researching any aspect of the various medical laboratory sciences, for example virology, hematology, disease detection, antibiotic resistance, cell culturing, bacteria, white/red blood cell research, image detection in computer science, robotic automation for lab specimens, or other idea detailed in the MLS AIM Career, and selected following a competitive process, you will receive up to $1,000 worth of supply funds and have access to a SME (subject matter expert) and mentor. The teacher and student receive up to $250 based on milestone expectations when the project is completed. (Ten project opportunities available) (Student eligibility is based on their teacher taking the MLS skills training)

Participation Expectations and Milestones:
– $1,000 in a Science Coach account specifically for student project supplies (Teacher and student enter supply requests in their Portals, that includes item description, links to requested items, company name and item numbers. Shawn purchases requested items and direct ships to school, teacher’s home, or other address)
– $250 Milestone payments for the Student and Teacher:
 $100/each – When donor-selected communications are completed (normally 3x/year via Portal)
$100/each – When the following media is uploaded in the Portal:
– 2 pictures of project work
– 1 PDF of the final slide show (PowerPoint saved as a PDF)
– 1 video is presented for Student Symposium consideration/website library inclusion, and student presents at the spring
Symposium, if selected, in person or virtually (except in extenuating circumstances).
$50/each – When project information/research paper/competition/awards, etc. is COMPLETELY entered in the Portal and the
project and competition statuses are marked as “Complete”.

Other Research Project Opportunities:

Bees – If you are interested in researching bees, we have a SME for bees and a St. Louis area beekeeper resource who has offered to set up a separate hive for a student to work with if given a month’s notice. (This is not a Science Sponsor opportunity)

Senior Stipend Information and Milestones

There are three Senior Stipend scholarships available each year. The opportunity to apply for the Senior Student Stipend is available to a high school senior with at least one year of previous Science Coach participation. Each teacher can nominate up to three junior students for this competitive process in the spring, prior to the start of the student’s senior year. The nominated students will need to complete an application. The three selected students can earn up to a $1000 stipend (and a $100 bonus) during their senior year based on reaching the Milestones.

Congratulations to the FOUR 22-23 Senior Stipend Students selected from the competitive application process across the Science Coach program:

Andrew Bufalo – Holt High School – Explore the p38 pathway and how knocking out the genes for certain transcription factors will affect Dux4 expression.

Bailey O’Neal – Jackson High School – Determine if teeth can preserve the DNA them and, if so, to find a temperature where the DNA is no longer extractable.

Jacob Arnold – Eldon High School – Develop a new cleaning product that is efficacious against both gram-positive and gram-negative bact.

Kaden Luker – Jackson High School – Create a water filtration system that uses light or a scanner to analyze the percentage of microplastics within the water and releases chemicals, enzymes, or bacteria that biodegrade the microplastic.

STEM Career Library – Check out the numerous STEM careers available for your consideration

Medical Lab Science (MLS) Career Programs – Connections to hospitals and educational institutions

Gary Stocker provides support to students as they evaluate and select colleges for their medical laboratory science degree. He also has a YouTube MLS channel (Click on the videos tab). Dr. Stocker’s email address is gary@mls2030.com

The BS in medical laboratory science is a 4-year degree and is offered at many colleges in Missouri and across the United States. An internship at a BJC hospital is part of the St. Louis region accredited medical laboratory science (MLS) degree program. There is also a medical laboratory technician’s associate degree program offered through many community colleges (for instance, Moberly Area Community College). The support services provided to St. Louis region students is fully subsidized by BJC HealthCare. For more information, here is the medical laboratory science page.

Dr. Stocker provided the following additional links:
PPT presentation on Medical Laboratory Science
Search tool for MLS programs throughout the United States (Click on ‘Find A Program’)
BJC Outreach to set up medical laboratory shadowing opportunities
American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science for more information

Entrepreneurial STEM students wanted for new Ph.D. program

Missouri University of Science and Technology has established a new Ph.D. fellowship program for innovation-minded students interested in pursuing a doctoral degree in science, technology, engineering or mathematics. Click here to read the complete article.

Free Introductory Bioinformatics Courses

This is the Bioinformatics site where students can take 1 or more free courses to learn the basics in bioinformatics/omics. Some of the other courses include a charge. This site uses a proprietary tool that helps students learn the basics of Bioinformatics without being bogged down in learning the coding. Once mastered, students will progress to the professional tools which include software programming languages. To start with the free courses, go to the login page and create an account.

This company – PineBio, also offers a ‘Program’ called, “Research Fellowship In Computational Biology” where students can work on their project and check in with a subject matter expert at scheduled times. This is not a true mentor, as the contact times are scheduled, but it does allow the student to email for other assistance.

List of linked Publications to Submit Student Research –