Outreach Programs

The Outreach Core provides biomedical research training opportunities to undergraduate students in Maine colleges and universities. Primary outreach institutions include The University of Maine, The University of Maine - Farmington, and The University of Maine - Machias. Undergraduates at any other Maine college or university are also eligible for these programs. Please contact the Maine INBRE Outreach Core for more information.

Undergraduate Summer Fellowships
Short Courses
Maine Biological and Medical Sciences Symposium
Scientific Speakers Program

Undergraduate Summer Fellowships

Please see the 'Undergraduate Research' section of this website for more information about mentored summer undergraduate research fellowships.

Short courses

Molecular Neuroscience
Dates: January 15-19, 2007 (Week 1 of 2); March 12-16, 2007 (2 of 2)
Faculty: Dr. Hadly Horch, Bowdoin College
Location: MDI Biological Laboratory

Open to students at Bowdoin College.

Molecular Biology Research Techniques
Dates: February 19-23, 2007
Faculty: Dr. Charles Wray, MDIBL
Location: MDI Biological Laboratory

This INBRE Outreach short course is open to undergraduates from University of Maine - Farmington, University of Maine - Machias, and other Maine colleges. An intensive introduction to experimental procedures in the analysis of gene sequences and gene expression, including RNA isolation, reverse transcription, polymerase chain reaction, direct sequencing, and real-time quantitative PCR.

Functional Genomics of Membrane Transport
Dates: March 5-16, 2007
Faculty: Dr. Denry Sato, MDIBL; Dr. Bruce Stanton, Dartmouth Medical School

This course is open to biology students at The University of Maine. The course will focus on cystic fibrosis as a model disease that can be studied with a variety of techniques currently used in biomedical research, and it will consist of both lectures and hands-on training in the laboratory. Cystic fibrosis is caused by genetic mutations resulting in functional defects in a chloride ion transport protein called the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR). Students will use electrophysiological methods to assay CFTR function in transfected cultured mammalian cells and in Xenopus oocytes. Students will also learn to culture cells in vitro and examine the subcellular localization of CFTR in stem cells by confocal microscopy. They will determine CFTR sequences and use informatics and computational techniques to compare sequences. The course will be team taught by faculty from The University of Maine, Dartmouth Medical School, and the Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory.

For more information on this short course, please visit the course website.

Methods in Developmental Biology
Dates: March 12-19, 2007
Faculty: Dr. James Coffman, MDIBL

This new course is open to students at the College of the Atlantic. This intensive laboratory experience will cover fundamental problems of Developmental Biology and experimental methods used to address those problems. Students will use microscopy to directly observe sea urchin embryogenesis, beginning with fertilization of the egg, and continuing through each of the stages of normal development including cleavage, blastula, gastrula, and mature larva. To examine the impact of the environment on development, students will expose sea urchin embryos to various toxicants and analyze their effect on developmental morphology and gene expression at different developmental stages. Analysis of gene expression will involve molecular techniques such as extraction of RNA from embryos and reverse-transcriptase coupled polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The laboratory work will be complemented by lectures that provide a context for the concepts and

Maine Biological and Medical Sciences Symposium (MBMSS)

The Maine Biological and Medical Sciencs Symposium (MBMSS) is a state-wide gathering of researchers and students and provides an opportunity to share research results, exchange ideas, promote collaboration, and network with Maine scientists in a variety of disciplines. Now in its 34th year, MBMSS was organized by a Maine non-profit prior to reorganization under Maine INBRE. MBMSS board members include research scientists and faculty from Maine INBRE and other institutions in Maine. The MBMSS Board determines the Symposium themes and helps select oral presentations from faculty and students. A poster session will be held. All Maine researchers, science faculty, graduate, undergraduate and high school students are cordially invited to attend. This year's MBMSS will take place Friday, April 27th and Saturday, April 28th, 2007. Please visit the MBMSS website for further information.

Scientific Speakers Program

The Scientific Speakers Program will support a federally-funded INBRE investigator to travel to an Outreach Institution for one to two days each year to deliver a scientific seminar, meet with students, and consult with science faculty. Maine colleges and universities interested in a scientific speaker from a Maine INBRE institution, should contact the Outreach Core.