UMBI Hosts Area Biology Teachers During the Maryland Governor’s Academy Program

Baltimore, MD - The Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) and the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute (UMBI) have come together to host 16 Maryland teachers participating in the Maryland Governor’s Academy for Biology, July 5-14th at the Columbus Center in downtown Baltimore. UMBI is one of five partner sites for the Academy program.

The Maryland Governor’s Academy has been in existence form more than ten years, and was developed by MSDE to target the five high school assessment topics, one of which is Biology. The program is designed to assist teachers in developing techniques that will be used to promote excellence in science education throughout the state.

This year, 90 teachers and 15 staff members will participate in the program that will be held at five different sites in Maryland. Sixteen teachers from Harford, Anne Arundel, Howard and Baltimore Counties and Baltimore City will participate in hands-on biology programs focused on ecology at UMBI’s Center for Marine Biotechnology.

“UMBI is pleased to partner with MSDE and host teachers participating in the 2005 Governor’s Academy,” says Mr. Gary Coleman, Assistant Vice President of Education and Outreach at UMBI. “This is a tremendous opportunity for us to help high school teachers improve their science content knowledge as well as offer new teaching skills to assist them in providing their students with a positive and achievement-oriented science learning experience. “Teachers will be involved in a two week Graduate program targeting Ecology from the Biology Core Learning Goals (CLG) and to develop the pedagogical skills that they will need in teaching the Biology CLG,” Mr. Coleman explains.

The 90 biology teachers from across the state will participate in activities such as GPS, GIS mappings and hands-on lab activities dealing with Biosensors and Bioremediation in the environment. For more information on the Governor’s Academy visit www.marylandpublicschools.org/MSDE. For more information on UMBI, visit www.umbi.umd.edu

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Celebrating our 20th anniversary year, UMBI is the first and only biotechnology research institute within the University System of Maryland and was established in 1985. The University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute (UMBI) consists of five major research and education centers and is dedicated to advancing the frontiers of biotechnology. UMBI’s centers of research include: CARB, the Center for Advanced Research in Biotechnology located in Rockville; CBR, the Center for Biosystems Research located in College Park; and COMB, the Center of Marine Biotechnology, MBC, the Medical Biotechnology Center, and IHV, the Institute of Human Virology, all located in Baltimore. For more information, visit www.umbi.umd.edu