Adapting our Research and Training During COVID-19
The latest from Maine INBRE Program Director James Coffman, Ph.D.
Adaptation to change is a defining characteristic of life, being essential for survival. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has brought on seismic change, compelling us all to think creatively about how we are going to adapt. But this process, and indeed any crisis, offers new opportunities for growth and improvement. This newsletter explores how the Maine INBRE is adapting to the COVID-19 crisis, with a focus on how our summer undergraduate research fellowship program has been restructured to provide remote mentored research and research training.
Bioinformatics Core Develops New Online Resources for Student Fellows
Tools Help Enable Remote Learning
Undergraduate students in this summer’s fellowship program were paired with Maine INBRE and COBRE Investigators who had genomics data that invited further analysis. Bioinformatics Core staff trained students and mentors on the use of online resources (e.g. Amazon Web Service working machines) via Zoom through structured presentations, regular and on-call online meetings with both mentors and students. The Core generated reusable training modules – markdown materials with accompanying short videos – that will be incorporated to enhance future student training programs. The Core staff also gave presentations on data visualization during the “Communicating Science” class, which was part of the fellowship curriculum. Core Co-Director Joel Graber blogs about the key role computational biology plays in modern research: Part I Part II