Outreach

EcoFAB 2.0 devices are being used in multiple outreach activities.

K-12 Director’s Apprenticeship Program

In a comprehensive 5-week hands-on course, students leverage the EcoFAB 2.0 system to investigate the impact of nitrogen nutrition on the developmental processes of the model grass, Brachypodium distachyon.

For more information, visit the K-12 Director’s Apprenticeship Program website.

2023 Berkeley Lab Director’s Apprenticeship Program (BLDAP) students. 
(photo credit: Shannon Kelli Nicholls)
Vlastimil Novak (right) helps students with plant growth measurements.
(photo credit: Ying Wang)

Bio21 at Los Medanos College

Professor Jill Bouchard integrates EcoFAB 2.0 into her project-based teaching approach within the undergraduate Bio21 lab course at Los Medanos College.

See a podcast episode about this outreach here.

Students in Bio21 spend several weeks planning and running their experiments in the EcoFAB growth chambers.
(photo credit: Menaka Wilhelm)

Biotech Partners and Antioch High School

Our ongoing partnership with Biotech Partners aims to integrate EcoFAB 2.0 devices into high school biotech curricula. As part of this collaboration, 45 Antioch High School students visited the Northen Lab to explore the applications of EcoFAB technologies in research at the LBNL.

Peter Andeer (right) demonstrates how the EcoBOT automation system is being developed to conduct EcoFAB experiments. (photo credit: Thor Swift)
Vlastimil Novak (left) shows students how EcoFABs are used for plant microbiome research. (photo credit: Thor Swift)

Additional updates

News article: Spotlight on STEM Outreach: Northen Lab participates in BLDAP for fourth year

Video: EcoFABs in Class: A Visit to Los Medanos College

JGI Genome Insider Podcast: Genome Insider S4 Episode 5: Experimenting with EcoFABs for Student Labs – Jill Bouchard & Ying Wang

Additional news & updates: LBL EcoFAB latest news