AdvanceNOLA Students at Sci High Visit Tulane Research Labs

This blog post was written by Tolulope Dawodu, a Cowen Scholar and second year Master of Public Health (MPH) student at Tulane University.

As an AdvanceNOLA site coordinator, part of my work is to act as a liaison between New Orleans Charter Science and Math High School (Sci High) and the Cowen Institute by facilitating mentorship programs with undergraduate students at Tulane.

Through the Cowen Institute and the campus-community partnerships at Tulane University, I was able to connect with Dr. Beth Wee, co-director of the undergraduate and master’s neuroscience programs and associate dean for undergraduate studies in the School of Science and Engineering. Dr. Wee and her students first visited Sci High in March and met with the AP Biology class and their teacher. Dr. Wee’s class was able to spark the Sci High students’ interest in science research and they received an invitation to visit science research labs at Tulane.

When we arrived at Tulane, we were first treated to breakfast in the dining hall which we thoroughly enjoyed! Immediately after, we were escorted by the undergraduate researchers to the labs at Stern Hall where we were met by other student researchers in Dr. Wee’s lab.

The high school students were enthralled as they listened to the Tulane students explain their research in the scientific terms they had learned in class. They also had an opportunity to watch a demonstration of the experiments. The highlight of the occasion came when the Sci High students were allowed to wear lab coats and hold the lab rats.

In that single moment, as I looked through my lens and tried to take photographs, I imagined the impact that this exposure to college-level science research will have in the future career paths of thes students. This is what college preparedness is all about. I am reminded yet again about the joys of being a Cowen Scholar and the opportunity to facilitate such amazing mentoring moments.

*Photos by Paula Burch-Celentano