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Director: Mary Pat Huxley mphuxley@ventura.cc.ca.us
Special Projects: Bill Thieman bthieman@vcccd.cc.ca.us
Administrative Assistant: Barbara Hall bhall@ventura.cc.ca.us
Center Director: Bob Renger Rrenger@ventura.cc.ca.us
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Newsletter of the Central Coast Biotechnology Center
Volume 1, Number 1 An Intermittent PublicationThe CCBC serves the central coast region of California biotechnological industries and research institutions along with the following community colleges: Allan Hancock College, Antelope Valley Community College, College of the Canyons, Cuesta College, Moorpark College, Oxnard College, Santa Barbara City College, and Ventura College.
What’s in This Newsletter: Table of Contents
Contents of this newsletter are listed below. Detailed descriptions follow
.Courses and Workshops
CCBC Activities, Announcements, and Developments
Resources
Detailed Descriptions
Courses and Workshops
Biotechnology Methods Training Workshop at California Lutheran University – Two Saturday workshops, March 7 and 14, 1998, for high school or community college instructors, or on May 23rd and 30th, 1998.
California Lutheran University and the CCBC are co-sponsoring two workshops at CLU for faculty. Modules that teach polymerase chain reaction, high performance liquid chromatography, plasmid insertion, size exclusion chromatography, and DNA fingerprinting are demonstrated with faculty playing the role of the student. All training material is available for use in your classroom. These all-day training session are part of the CLU Enriched Science program and CCBC training for faculty. Kits of the materials used in the workshop are available for faculty to use in their classrooms. Please phone Mary Pat Huxley for further information.
E.O. Lawrence Livermore Workshops for Community College Biotechnology Students – This four-week residential summer workshop includes a series of lectures and discussions, tours, and an extensive hands-on practicum in Biotechnology. Course dates: Monday, July 6 through Friday, July 31, 1998. Workshop fellowships include $200 per week and complementary housing, and are offered to 10 students who are currently enrolled in a California Community College Biotechnology Program. Applications are available through the CCBC, or contact the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Laurel Egenberger (510/486-5190), email: llegenberger@lbl.gov, E.O. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Biotechnology Workshop, Center for Science & Engineering Education, Bldg. 938C, Room 320, Berkeley, CA 94720.
Completed applications must be received by March 30, 1998.
Science and Ethics of Biology – A two-week short course for high school and community college instructors, Monday July 27 through Friday, August 7, 1998, at Los Angeles Pierce College, Woodland Hills, CA. The course is designed to provide all participants with a back ground in the techniques used in the industrial biotechnology laboratory and an understanding of the concepts, science, and ethics behind these techniques. Laboratory time will be geared to both those familiar and unfamiliar with molecular biology. This course is offered through PACT, the Partnership for the Advancement of Chemical Technology, sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the Center for Chemical Education and Miami University Middletown. Tuition is paid and a $200.00 stipend is included. An application of $40.00 is required. For further information and applications, contact Mr. J. Martin Ikkanda, Professor of Biology, Los Angeles Pierce College, 6201 Winnetka Avenue, Woodland Hills, CA 91372. TEL (818) 719-4288. Email: J_Martin_Ikkanda@laccd.cc.ca.us
You may also contact Mary Pat Huxley at the CCBC.
Completed applications must be received by April 30, 1998.
CCBC Activities, Announcements and Developments
Advisory Committee Meeting at Ventura College, Ventura, CA - The CCBC will hold its second advisory committee meeting in the new science building at Ventura College in the afternoon of Friday, April 24th, 1998. A tour of the new science building and the biotechnology laboratory is also planned. The content of the Advisory Committee meeting will center on the results of the faculty survey. If you would like to suggest agenda items focused on the direction of the CCBC’s plans for the next year, please contact Mary Pat Huxley. Interested faculty, agencies, companies and consortium representatives are being invited.
Survey of Community College Faculty
Attention community college faculty! Would you like to give a piece of your mind? Please do so by giving us your ideas how we might serve you better. If you did not receive a questionnaire, we’ll be glad to send you one. Do take advantage of this opportunity to offer your opinion, we take it seriously. Thank you.
Biotechnology Enterprises Needs Assessment
An assessment of the training needs of biotechnology Enterprises, including companies, government agencies, research laboratories, and consortia, in the Central Coast region of California is being initiated. The results of the assessment will help determine the biotechnology industry’s needs. Educational services in support of economic development of this vital industry sector, and particularly in the central California coast area, will be of particular interest. The assessment is slated to be complete in the summer or fall of 1998. Reprints of the findings will be made available in the fall. Colleges in our region will then be approached with possibilities for meeting those needs, while creating an atmosphere of cooperation and agreement between community colleges and biotechnology industries on educational issues.
"Funding Your Program" Workshops
Three successful workshops on finding funding for your biotechnology program were held in Fresno, Sacramento, and Ventura for community college faculty. Dr. Robert Renger, a recipient of several grants and a past reader for NSF grants provided this information, just in time for the November NSF grant deadlines. Program funding is one of the most difficult items to obtain, and assistance from external sources for biotechnology/molecular biology training programs is available. If you are interested in scheduling a workshop in your area, phone the CCBC.
Internships Information
Persons at biological technology companies interested in providing an internship for a community college student are welcome to contact Mary Pat Huxley, who will connect the company with the appropriate college.
The Ventura College Biotechnology Program currently has an intern at Technical Associates, Incorporated, a company specializing in DNA forensics, located in Ventura, California.
The Agricultural Biotechnology Curriculum Is Taking Shape
Interesting trends for agricultural biotechnology curriculums in California are being revealed through the curriculum surveys received this far from colleges or the agricultural biotechnology industry. A National Skill Set developed by the Future Farmers Association was used as the guideline for our survey and has been used for many developing agricultural biotechnology-training programs.
Completed surveys have been received from individuals at Mycogen, Inc., Calgene Inc., NIE Plant Culture laboratories, Agra West, Inc., eleven community colleges, and on e California State University. A list of knowledge and skill areas that can be used to design a curriculum will be available when all the surveys have been returned and tallied in June. Contact Bill Thieman if you would like to participate in this survey and ranking.
Resources
Autoclave Available
The CCBC has received a gift of two autoclaves from Amgen, Inc. One of them has been donated to the Moorpark College Biotechnology Program. If you are a college in need of an autoclave for a biotechnology or molecular biology training program, please call Mary Pat Huxley for details.
Student Internship Handbook
Technical experience and service are only a few of the benefits to a student internship at a biotechnology company. The Handbook for Internships is available for anyone, in hard copy, electronic format (IBM compatible disk in Microsoft Word), or both, the Handbook outlines the procedures for initiating and maintaining an internship, who the players are, what the responsibilities are, and includes nine forms, such as an Attendance Record and the Site Supervisor’s Evaluation.
Request for Resources
Community colleges are in need of micropipettors, carbon dioxide incubators, spectrophotometers, chemicals, gas chromatograph, microfuges, and a floor centrifuge.
If you have these or other materials for donation, or would like more information regarding the Center, please contact Barbara Hall or Mary Pat Huxley.
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