Statement from the Board in solidarity with the Asian American Pacific Islander Community

Dear SoundBio Lab family,

As stewards of an organization committed to equity, the SoundBio Lab Board stands in solidarity and support of the Asian American and Pacific Islander community. We are angered and saddened by the hatred and violence against the AAPI community that has spiked in the past year. Moreover, we were horrified by the March 16th murders of 8 people, including 6 Asian American women during the mass shooting that targeted three Asian-own businesses in Atlanta. We recognize this horrific act as yet another example of white-supremacist violence within a year marked by increased violence against members of the AAPI community. We  recognize that these acts are situated in a long history of exclusion, racism, and misogyny within this country and tied to  white supremacy that has brought violence to all communities of color. We stand together with the AAPI community against anti-Asian sentiment and all acts of white supremacy.

We see you and our hearts are with you.

We encourage all who can to take action: 

LEARN: There are a wealth of resources available. For a full report on anti-Asian hate crimes and resources on how to support the AAPI community please visit:

https://stopaapihate.org/about/

https://twitter.com/StopAAPIHate

DONATE: If you are able, please consider donating to Stop AAPI Hate and the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum

TALK: Check in with friends and family in the AAPI community and listen with intention. Initiate and revisit discussions regarding racial injustice with family and friends.

In solidarity,

The SoundBio Lab Board

Statement from the Board in solidarity with those working to dismantle systemic racism

Dear SoundBio family,

As the caretakers of an organization committed to equity, the SoundBio Lab Board would like to make explicit our support for the Black community and our opposition to systemic racism in policing, criminal justice, and all other forms of targeted racism that pervade our society. 

STEM is not a neutral force in the world. Science has been used for centuries to legitimize violence and oppression of Black, Indigenous, non-White, Queer people and women for centuries. That legacy has not disappeared nor does science represent or benefit people equitably. We believe in the power of science and technology to be outlets for human curiosity and tools for positive transformation. We follow through on that belief not by waiting patiently for advancement within existing institutions but by creating our own spaces for learning and doing. In this vein, we support protest and we support international calls for systemic change. 

We are part of an international movement of community labs advocating  for change within STEM.  We’d like to share the sentiments and resources put together by Ramy Kim, President of Counter Culture Labs in Oakland, CA. 

Take action

• LEARN: There are a wealth of excellent resources. Those curated by 500 Women in Science provide a great starting point.

• DONATE: Black Lives Matter, Seattle ; Seattle Indian Health Board.

• DEMONSTRATE. We encourage everyone who is able to safely participate in street protest to do so, in whatever peaceful form, and to sustain that momentum until meaningful reform is achieved. 

• TALK to your friends and family. 

Commitments from the SoundBio Board

The following are ambitions of the SoundBio Board and we welcome the involvement and support of all who are interested. Get in touch at info@sound.bio.

• Diversifying our governance structures, including the Board and committees. 

• Funding, marketing and implementing fee waivers to remove financial barriers to community science and learning for those from groups underrepresented in STEM.  

  • Facilitating an event series on discrimination and equity in STEM. 

• Build relationships with local organizations, in STEM education and beyond, to generate new paths to support the Black community and promote equity in STEM.

• Focusing our science outreach work on benefiting students from underrepresented groups. 

With solidarity in action, 

Andy, Anna, Orlando, Regina and Yoshi 

The SoundBio Lab Board

Volunteer Spotlight - Dr. Aida Hidalgo

2019 Outstanding Educational Volunteer, Dr. Aida Hidalgo.

SoundBio Lab cannot operate without the help of volunteers. We are in debt to all of them, particularly those who support our youth.

Dr. Aida Hidalgo moved to the Seattle metro area from the UK two years ago. As a trained scientist with a MSc in clinical microbiology and a PhD in bacterial genetics, she was looking for different scientific volunteer opportunities. Aida is passionate about the concept of ‘science for all’ and supports organizations that promote access, inclusion, and diversity. Her search quickly led her to SoundBio Lab where she jumped in immediately to donate her time and skills.

In the lab, Aida helped to support and mentor a large iGEM (International Genetically Engineered Machine competition) team of over 40 high school students. Many of these students were new to the lab environment and needed guidance. Aida, along with a team of advisors, provided significant scientific mentorship so they could safely and effectively pursue their project. Aida donated countless hours towards this effort which ultimately led the team to a bronze medal in their category with their Bacto-Basics project.

Beyond lab work, Aida soon became an invaluable volunteer for our educational outreach program. SoundBio attended 14 different educational events in 2019 and Aida contributed to 8 of them, donating over 24 hours of service. This dedication in serving some of our vulnerable youth is part of SoundBio’s core mission and why Aida directed much of her energy towards it. We can’t thank Aida enough for her many contributions to SoundBio Lab!

““I am very fortunate to help while doing something I really love and care about””

— Dr. Aida Hidalgo

Sammamish Library Science Workshop

SoundBio Lab was delighted to be included in an ongoing series of workshops hosted by the Sammamish Library. Located approximately 30 minutes east of Seattle, this library just celebrated its 10th anniversary.

The Sammamish Library offers a wide variety of classes for their local community. Because of its proximity to Microsoft, families in the area tend to value STEM enrichment activities - so it was a great fit for our educational outreach program!

Our Director of Educational Outreach and SoundBio volunteer, Lauren Loh, led an enthusiastic group of 20 middle school children through two different activities over the course of 1.5 hours. We first extracted and isolated DNA from fruit, and then practiced our micro-pipetting skills. Students were assisted by four enthusiastic high school volunteers who were instrumental in preparing and cleaning up these two wetlab activities.

Blueberry DNA precipitating out at the interface.

SoundBio first led students in a short lesson about DNA and how we can extract and isolate it from plant cells. They learned about the different ingredients we add to our lysis buffer, and what role those ingredients play in extracting the DNA via separating it from proteins. They also learned that some plant genomes are large and oftentimes have >2 copies of their genome in each cell. Commercial strawberries, for example, have 8 genomes per cell (octoploid) making it a great source for an abundance of DNA.

Students were amazed to learn that when isolating DNA from fruit, you do not need a microscope to see it! There were many ‘ooh’s and ‘aahs’ as the students watched the DNA precipitate out at the last step.

We asked students to compare both strawberries and blueberries to determine which fruit yielded the most DNA. Results seemed fairly even but we think this time blueberries won. Each child got to take home their very own DNA necklace, which included their DNA placed into a 1.5ml tube clipped onto a yarn necklace.

Overall, SoundBio had a wonderful afternoon at the Sammamish Library. We hope to be invited back in the near future with new and engaging hands-on activities.

Engineer It @ the Pacific Science Center!

SoundBio Lab was invited to attend one of Pacific Science Center’s Curiosity Day Events. Occurring approximately once every two months, the theme for this particular 3-day event was ‘Engineer It’. The Pacific Science Center (PSC) reached out to us in the hopes that we might be able to represent the discipline of Bioengineering, which is oftentimes overlooked when someone thinks of engineering.

Because their audience tends to be parents and kids, we figured that an introduction to micro-pipetting using our fixed volume pipets would be a good fit. With over 1000 visitors a day, this activity turned out to be a huge hit with the kids! Our volunteers had a blast and were kept very busy both days. We look forward to future collaborations with the Pacific Science Center in the future.

Our 6 pipetting stations, ready to go!

New Community Group: Meet Seed.code

At a small DIY biology lab in North Seattle stands a table where the members of Seed.code convene. What is Seed.code, exactly? Our group started off as four curious individuals from backgrounds of computer science, engineering, and molecular genetics. We’ve since grown into a diverse team focused on investigating the complexities of plant genetics and using that understanding to build a platform to assist other DIY bio labs throughout the world in a shared spirit of open exploration.

Using a unique interaction between a bacterium called Agrobacterium and a small, herbaceous plant known as Arabidopsis, we can, with relative ease, take a custom fragment of DNA and incorporate it into select plant specimens. This technique has earned the rather colloquial and apt term of “floral dip.”

To aid us in workflow management we employ a software called Aquarium; an invaluable tool to help us maximize our productivity and create experimental designs that can be used by nearly any independent research group. If you are someone who shares in this ideal or if you are a curious individual wishing to learn more about our world, come meet us! We don’t bite though some of our plants might. RSVP for future meetups on the SoundBio MeetUp page: https://www.meetup.com/soundbio/

Fruit DNA Extraction

Good yield from blueberries!

SoundBio Lab decided to wrap up 2019 with one final workshop on December 28th. A group of 10 budding scientists were led by our Director of Educational Outreach. The goal was not only to learn more about genomes, their relative sizes, and why fruits are useful for this type of experiment, but also to see if we could figure out which fruit yields the most DNA.

We started out with strawberries (of course!), but quickly moved on to blueberries and then bananas. Participants were able to complete the DNA extraction protocol several times to practice their technique and to test what fruit worked best. While we were all fairly surprised at the DNA yield from bananas, it looks like strawberries still came out on top!

Participants hard at work measuring, smashing and extracting DNA from fruit!

The reason strawberries have so much DNA is because commercially available strawberries are octoploidy - meaning they have 8 copies of the genome in each cell. This turns out to be a LOT of DNA, which makes it easier to extract and visualize without needing a microscope. It’s also worth mentioning that they are really fun to smash with a mortar and pestle too! All in all, this 1 hour introduction to DNA workshop was a hit. We even sneaked a peak of fruit cells and some DNA under our compound microscope. Our participants learned a few fun trivia facts too, such as the answer to this question: What is the one cell type in your body that DOES NOT have DNA in it? Here’s a hint, it is sometimes referred to as ‘Red Gold’.

Have ideas for more workshops or want to attend this type of activity? Email us at worskhops (at) sound.bio

Family learning is encouraged and supported!

Getting ready for ethanol precipitation.

Cub Scout STEM Night

SoundBio was recently invited to teach a pack of eager Cub Scouts about what it’s like to be a scientist. Of course we couldn’t let this opportunity pass without also offering a hands-on activity too! Led by our Director of Educational Outreach, SoundBio provided pipetting supplies and colored water to also let the kids play with fixed volume pipets.

While half the children learned to pipet, the other half talked to Holly Sawyer, a former scientist and lab manager, about what it’s like to work in a lab. The discussion was enlightening! We discussed what scientists do, and what type of traits are important if you want to become a scientist. After our talk, the Scouts were allowed to touch a bunch of fun science tubes, racks and other small equipment that are used routinely in the lab. This type of scientific ‘show, tell & touch’ is always popular with the kids and inevitably leads to further topics such as safety (glasses, gloves & lab coat), how we handle samples (different tubes and racks), and how we create experiments. Our Director of Outreach had this to say:

“It’s important to allow kids to touch things that they’ve never seen before such as an 8-channel micro-pipet, a centrifuge, or even tiny PCR tubes. It makes science feel cool, exciting and more accessible.”

— Holly Sawyer

Want to give your Cub Scout group a similar opportunity? Feel free to reach out to us at holly (at) sound.bio.

This Scout was really getting into the holiday spirit!

Happy Holidays!

SoundBio Lab & Celgene Host annual 'Be A Scientist' Workshop

In early November 2019, SoundBio Lab teamed up with Celgene for a one-of-a-kind biotech workshop event for middle school children. Held at Celgene’s downtown location in Seattle, WA, this event specifically targeted girls and under-represented minorities in order to promote diversity in biotechnology.

The children were treated to several hands-on science activities designed specifically by Celgene and SoundBio scientists.  The goal of this event was to inspire kids to envision themselves as scientists, and to help them see the connection between DNA and cancer.

Staff and volunteers from both SoundBio Lab and Celgene led 8 different groups of kids in these hands-on activities, starting with a favorite, strawberry DNA extraction. The next activity was learning how to properly micropipet using colored water, petri dishes, and a 96 well plate. The groups then participated in a novel cancer game where they got to tear apart paper mache ‘cells’ to learn about healthy DNA variation, as well as the different kinds of mutations that can lead to cancer. All in all, the kids and volunteers had a wonderful morning learning about biology.

We hope to continue this workshop series as an annual event. If you have a middle school student who is interested in biology, we’d love for you to join us! You can do so by emailing our Director of Outreach at holly (at) sound.bio.

Each child was assigned a role in our Cancer Game. Field scientists had to collect DNA sequences from other groups and report back to their research laboratory!

One group focusing intently on their micropipetting skills.

Group photo of all the middle school students + 19 dedicated volunteers!

SoundBio: More than Just a Laboratory

By contributing science writer, Victoria Bowers

Access to science – a concept that many of us may take for granted as we work our way through a research project, deadline, or degree. But this access is a privilege, and organizations like SoundBio Lab are helping to ensure this access is expanded to those who are interested in science but may not have the resources to explore that curiosity.

SoundBio helps students gain traction under many scientific disciplines. This early traction provides an edge for those who may be applying to college or university programs that are often quite competitive. SoundBio provides a safe haven for students to learn, grow, and embark on their scientific journeys in two ways: First, by providing physical support and supplies, and second, by helping them hone professional development skills such as networking, critical thinking, and scientific communication.

For context, we sat down with three high school students to understand how SoundBio has been involved in their scientific journeys.

David Lu of Roosevelt High School presenting his research project at our regional science fair.

David Lu, a student at Roosevelt High School, originally found SoundBio through their iGEM program, a synthetic biology team that competes in the iGEM (International Genetically Engineered Machine) Giant Jamboree. He decided to complete his project for the Central Sound Regional Science and Engineering Fair through SoundBio because Roosevelt High School didn’t have the capacity to support his project. He was interested in studying the Effect of AHLs (N-acyl homoserine-lactones, a class of signaling molecules involved in bacterial quorum sensing) on Microcystis Growth, due to the toxic algal blooms that occasionally occur in Seattle.

He enjoyed having full access to an incubator for the entirety of his project, stating that he didn’t have to worry about his samples being tampered with. He was excited to use the new NanoDrop 2000c spectrophotometer that SoundBio owns, highlighting how SoundBio is helping students experience new equipment and technology before they enter college. Beyond the physical support, he noted that:

“SoundBio helped me with scientific thinking and being able to communicate my processes

”

— David Lu

Aditi Ekbote and Vidhi Jain of Tesla STEM High School presenting their research project.

Another group that used SoundBio to complete their project for the Central Sound Regional Science and Engineering Fair was Aditi Ekbote and Vidhi Jain of Tesla Stem High School. Their project was studying drug combinations with antibiotics and curcumin to combat antibiotic drug resistance. They won 3rd place in their category which led them to the 62nd annual Washington State Science & Engineering Fair where they won first place in their category. As technologically savvy as Tesla Stem High School is, it didn’t have the capacity to host their science project, prompting them to seek out the external resource of SoundBio.

Aditi and Vidhi were drawn to their project because “the study of combating antibiotic drug resistance is an up-and-coming field…we felt compelled to alleviate this issue to the best of our ability.” They found SoundBio after contacting a professor from Bellevue College who recommended contacting Yoshi Goto, SoundBio’s lab manager. “We determined that SoundBio was the best fit for our project because they were flexible with their time and ready to help. We had no prior experience working in a lab, so Yoshi guided us through using scientific equipment and following through with our procedure.” 

“Our school is a BSL-1 facility, meaning that we are not allowed to grow E. coli in our labs. However, a large part of our procedure was growing and testing E. coli, so we had to find a lab that could safely accommodate it. Additionally, we didn’t have the proper materials in our school to crush the antibiotic pills and use them in a solution to treat the E. coli. SoundBio was perfect because they not only had the proper sterilized lab materials but also the experience of working with antibiotics.” 

“Outside of physical equipment, SoundBio helped us develop our scientific thinking and lab skills. Previously, we had very little experience of working in a professional lab setting and had never really worked with bacterial samples. Additionally, SoundBio helped us develop our scientific communication skills, as we had to learn to explain our procedure in an efficient and precise manner. We also developed our organizational skills, as it was difficult to manage so many parts of the project all at once under a time constraint. Yoshi Goto really helped us manage our time wisely, which was a vital in meeting our deadline.”

“Without SoundBio, it would have been hard for us to carry out this idea. There aren’t very many labs in our area that we could have worked in. So, we would probably have had to change our idea; this would have greatly disappointed us, as we were very passionate about our project idea.”

It should be noted that even after countless hours in the lab and lots of hard work, some groups in the science fair simply encountered results they weren’t expecting or hoping for. This can be quite defeating for new scientists. SoundBio steps in at times like this to help students develop persistence and resilience, traits which are so vital to the research process.

It’s clear that SoundBio is indeed a resource of machines and equipment, but it’s so much more than that. It’s an organization made up of dedicated mentors who have experienced the research rollercoaster and are excited to guide and support this next generation of young scientists.

NOTE: Further information about Seattle’s regional science fairs can be found HERE.

SoundBio attends Global Community Bio Summit

Several SoundBio Lab Board members and our Director of Operations recently attended the 2019 Global Community Bio Summit 3.0 held in Boston, MA. In its third year, the Bio Summit is an extraordinary meeting that brings together passionate individuals from around the globe who want to share their bio-community lab efforts and offerings. Hosted by the esteemed MIT Media Lab, this annual event addresses topics such as community lab ethics, challenges, best practices, and much more. A number of hands-on activities and workshops are also offered, blurring the lines between STEM and ART. The detailed program guide can be found here.

Yoshi Goto, our Dir of Operations attends a break-out gathering.

SoundBio Lab Member JJ Wheeler presents his work at Bio Summit 3.0.

SoundBio attends 'Up Your Ave' in U-District

SoundBio was invited to participate in the annual ‘Up Your Ave’ celebration in Seattle. The purpose of this event is to showcase local businesses to incoming freshman who attend the University of Washington. Hosted on ‘the Ave’ (in close proximity to the University), students stopped by a variety of booths to learn more about the U-District business offerings and promotions. Because our lab has close affiliations with UW and is located nearby, we were happy to participate and share our mission with the 1500 or so students who participated in this event.

Aside from teaching students how to micro-pipet, we spent time explaining the various community projects we run in our lab space such as Citizen Salmon, Dirt life and our new Biomodeling group. Interested students were offered a 2 month trial membership to join one of these exciting citizen science projects. One of SoundBio’s science advisors, Dr. Herbert Sauro (BioEngineering, UW), stopped in with his 2 young children to help!

Overall it was a fun event to help spread the word about who we are and what we do. If you want to learn more or don’t know where to start, feel free to drop us a line at info (at) sound.bio. We’re here to help.

Dr. Sauro explains SoundBio’s mission to new students.

SoundBio Teams up with Celgene for Middle School Biotech Workshop

We are happy to announce that Celgene, a world class biotechnology company, will be working with SoundBio Lab to host another one-of-a-kind biotech workshop event on November 9th, 2019. This is the second consecutive year that SoundBio will be running this workshop. It is generously being sponsored by Celgene and will be held at Juno Therapeutics in Seattle, WA.

The event will include a number of activities for middle school girls and underrepresented students. Our goal is simple: get the kids excited and inspired by the power of science and biotechnology! The kids will walk away with a new understanding of DNA, its relationship to cancer, and how scientists use different tools and methods to study disease.

We are currently recruiting for this event so check out our flyer below. If you are interested, please REGISTER HERE. Questions can be directed to the event organizer, Holly Sawyer, at holly (at) sound.bio. Thank you!

Maker Night at Museum of Flight

Event Program, hosted through the Museum of Flight’s CONNECTIONS program.

SoundBio Lab was delighted to be invited back to the Museum of Flight's annual Maker Night, featuring a variety of Makers and STEM groups in the Seattle area. This year’s event was held on Thursday, Sept 12th, 2019. The setting of this event is hard to beat as we were once again situated in front of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner and a massive turbine engine! What a spectacular location for celebrating the Maker Movement with the Museum’s Connection families.

This year we hosted our Filtration Challenge, which is popular with all ages. The goal is to separate out the 'contaminants' from the rice by using a variety of different science 'tools' on a tray. We love this activity because everyone approaches the problem differently! It's a great reminder that there are many ways to find a solution, and that by working together, it's often more efficient.

A big thank you to SoundBio volunteer, Ley Gaskill, and of course, to our friends at the Museum of Flight for including SoundBio Lab. We look forward to many more Maker Nights in the future!

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Workshop Spotlight: Heart Dissection

Sheep heart, ready for dissection.

This past summer, SoundBio Lab hosted a sheep heart dissection workshop for the first time. Led by two UW trained scientists, Asia Galarpe and Tucker Carlson, attendees were each given a heart to dissect.

Following the flow of blood, we explored the atriums, ventricles, and located the main aorta, coronary artery, and other vessels that carry blood to and from the lungs.

A highlight was cutting into the heart to locate the valves that open and close as the heart pumps blood through the four chambers. Participants found the chordae tendineae, otherwise known as ‘heart strings’ (they really do look like strings!), that connect the heart muscle to the valves.

The workshop in full swing.

We also learned the difference between a heart attack and cardiac arrest (hint: heart attacks may or may not lead to a sudden cardiac arrest when the heart stops beating).

Workshop attendees ranged in age from 12 years old to adults. Each participant was provided with their own heart on a wax tray, along with a scalpel (adults) or scissors (youth) and tweezers. Everyone wore protective lab coats, gloves and glasses to prevent splashes, as it turns out hearts are quite slippery! Overall, participants thoroughly enjoyed this hands-on workshop. SoundBio Lab has offered other dissection workshops in the past too. For more information on those, please check out a previous blog post.

Interested in more dissections? Do you know of a science expert who would like to teach this type of workshop? We’d love to hear from you! Drop us an email at: info (at) sound.bio

Founding Member Spotlight: Wakenene Kamau

Wakanene grew up in Ohio with parents who were both botanists. From a young age, he wanted to pursue biology, but in his own unique way. He majored in biological chemistry while in college, and when he moved to Seattle, he looked for a deeper connection to his community through science. One day, while working for a local biotech company, Wakanene noticed a bioart book on the coffee table. It immediately sparked his interest, so he put a sticky note on it, hoping to find the owner.  SoundBio co-founder, Dr. Mike Galdzaki responded, and before he knew it, Wakanene was in Zach’s garage pursuing his first citizen science project!

Wakanene loved getting involved with the Citizen Salmon project early because he could help define the project and influence its direction. This freedom of scientific pursuit was exciting and empowering. In high school, Wakanene remembered how amazing it was to study bacteria in the lake near where he lived. Having such a close environmental connection to his work was particularly meaningful, and he finally found that connection again, through Citizen Salmon.

Wakanene appreciated the more informal, inspirational gathering of like-minded folks pursuing a common goal. He loves that citizen science projects attract curious and passionate individuals. Because he had a strong educational support system growing up, he was in a great position to repay the favor by helping others.  Wakanene believes that SoundBio projects encourage curiosity, community and fun!

“SoundBio helped to sculpt my world view as a citizen scientist.”

— Wakanene Kamau

Realizing that not all science has to be formal (i.e. publish or perish), Wakanene purposefully sought out a non-traditional graduate program last fall.  He is currently getting his Masters in Media Arts and Sciences at MIT’s Media Lab. As a member of the Sculpting Evolution group, he is studying evolving systems including, but not limited to, gene drives - which are capable of altering DNA in wild populations.  The projects he works on today help broaden participation in science, and often involve community engagement, two key pillars of SoundBio. Fantastic!

SoundBio celebrates Science in Space!

The first of 3 steps - swabbing the control panel!

Out tabling activity was a hit with kids!

SoundBio was delighted to participate in a special event at the Museum of Flight on June 26th. The purpose of the event was to celebrate a new traveling Smithsonian exhibit now on display called ‘Destination to the Moon’. This exhibit celebrates one of mankind’s most groundbreaking accomplishments - sending astronauts to the moon! The mission (Apollo 11) happened 50 years ago and marked an extraordinary moment in the history of space exploration.

To celebrate Apollo’s 50th anniversary, SoundBio wanted to come up with something exciting and new for the Museum of Flight. With help from some wonderful volunteers, including a member of UW’s Astrobiology department, we devised a new tabling activity entitled “Find the Spaceship Germ”. The kids performed 3 steps:

1. Swab a contaminated ‘control panel’, then transfer the ‘germs’ to a microtube.

2. Pipet the liquid from the tube onto a petri dish.

3. Incubate the petri dish and discover the bacterial colonies.

While kids did not directly handle the bacterial colonies, we did have fun explaining how the germs could be separated and grown so that scientists could better study them. Overall the kids and parents had a great time thinking about science in space!

If this type of activity sounds interesting, please don’t hesitate to contact us at info (at) sound.bio. We are always looking for more folks to help with our educational outreach events.

Thank you to our wonderful volunteers: Kalyani, Holly, Tracy and Anastasia (not pictured).

Intern Spotlight: Sophie Liu

Sophie Liu is a 17-year old at Newport High school in Bellevue, WA. She discovered SoundBio through an online search for internships after recognizing someone she knew from a blogpost about SoundBio’s iGEM team. This led Sophie to join the 2018 iGEM team, followed by a 9 month internship at the lab. She was dedicated to both endeavors, spending two hours a day on the bus during her commute from Bellevue to the U-District.

Sophie’s motivation to pursue the sciences started at a young age. She went through many different science ‘phases’: grade 1 - egyptology, grade 2 - geology, grade 3 - astronomy, grade 4th - physics/chem, grade 5th - marine science, and grade 6th - biology. It seems biology stuck! As Sophie says, “Life on a small scale is compelling because so much is not known.”

With regards to her education, Sophie believes that while grades are important, life is experiential. She is self-motivated in this quest and appreciates that SoundBio offers a variety of experiences to everyone regardless of their educational background.

“SoundBio allows motivated people to explore science.”

— Sophie Liu

Sophie’s delve into exploratory science was magnified while participating as a member of the iGEM team and gaining hands-on lab experience in synthetic biology. Additionally, she learned about community norms, such as how to effectively communicate her findings to a broader audience.

Sophie realizes that she is currently in the transition phase from adolescence to adulthood. She believes SoundBio has assisted her during this time by offering opportunities to engage with adults in scientific arenas. It has also given her a glimpse of what it’s like to work ‘in the real world’, and the responsibilities this entails. Her favorite memory regarding SoundBio was being given a set of keys to the lab. This was a new level of freedom and accountability for Sophie, and it played an important role in her transition towards independence.

Sophie hopes the lab can grow in size over the coming years. When asked about what SoundBio represents to her, she stated, “Potential!”. We think she’s right; the possibilities of scientific discovery are endless, and SoundBio offers a stepping stone for curious minds like Sophie to start exploring.

Seattle Public School Adopts new Science Curriculum

On May 29th, 2019 the Seattle Public School Board voted to approve new science curriculum. As the largest public school district in the state of WA with ~ 54,000 children, Seattle leads the way in adopting new Next Gen Science Standards. A more detailed overview of the process & the motivation behind it is explained here.

SoundBio Lab has been following this exciting development because our Director of Outreach, Holly Sawyer, was a member of the K-5 committee this past year. A separate 6-8 committee covering middle school science curriculum occurred in tandem with the K- 5 team. After a long process and in-field pilots, both teams nominated Amplify Science as their preferred vendor. Headquartered in Brooklyn, NY, Amplify Science was initially developed on the West Coast by UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science. Their website describes the new phenomenon-based approach as follows:

“Each unit of Amplify Science engages students in a relevant, real-world problem where they investigate scientific phenomena, engage in collaboration and discussion, and develop models or explanations in order to arrive at solutions.”

Now that the Seattle Public School Board has formally voted and approved Amplify Science, the new curriculum will be offered as soon as next fall. Rollout will likely occur in stages given the size of the district. SoundBio Lab will continue to follow this exciting new development to ensure our outreach efforts and lab workshops complement the science being taught at our local schools.

Community Project Spotlight: DirtLife!

A Winogradsky column - Named after Sergey Winogradsky, a famous Russian microbiologist from the 1880’s, this column of water, dirt and nutrients will create a wonderful new home for a variety of microorganisms. Learn more here.

Every wonder what kind of living organisms thrive in different types of dirt? Curious about microbes, biodiversity and the world of microscopy? If so, we have a wonderful new community project for you to join called DirtLife! This new group of 6 dirt & microbe enthusiasts currently meets at SoundBio Lab every Sunday morning. With diverse backgrounds, participants bring a variety of expertise to the table, so everyone gets to learn. No prior experience necessary!

The goal of this group is to get better acquainted with the microbes that live in our soil and local waterways. Because the group is new, they are currently trying out a number of different mini-project ideas until they settle on something long term. So far, the team has created soil ‘micro-growth’ chambers (pictured), looked at different water samples using various microscopes, and plated out symbiotic fungi on agar plates together with plant hosts.

Curious but not sure where to start? Please consider stopping by Sunday morning, or reaching out to DirtLife lead - Orlando de Lange. Contact him at delangeo (at) gmail.com. Happy digging!

Culturing different fungi on plant hosts.