This gathering was the 34th Club meeting in the 2023-24 Rotary year. This meeting was in-person only – no video recording is available.
More than 20 members and guests were treated to a fascinating experience comprising a welcome and presentation by Prof Peter Currie, Director, Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute, along with Ms Laura Reid and Dr Renee Rogers of the BioEYES program, conducted by the Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute at Monash University. Their innovative, Award-winning program teaches primary and secondary students about science. Its goal is to provide a memorable experience practicing scientific investigation that will inspire more young people to strive to pursue a career in science.
Since it began, BioEYES Australia has reached more than 10,000 students with some 83% of students stating they can imagine themselves as scientists after completing the program.
Over the 1-week course students nurture the development of Zebra Fish embryos, observing the transparent eggs (Danio rerio) change from a single-celled zygote to free-swimming larvae.
The program has been so successful the Institute is seeking to expand its reach. Each additional metropolitan school participating costs around $3,000. The cost per school to take the program to regional and rural based schools costs around $4,000 per school per year. The overall funding target is to secure $5million to enable ongoing delivery of the program.
The program has been applauded as one of the 5 top STEMM outreach programs in Victoria. It has been featured in Cosmos Magazine, and the children’s TV science program “Scope”.
Data collected over the past 3 years has revealed significant past participant enrolments at Monash: 104 in Bachelor of Biomedical Science; and 416 who have enrolled in the faculty of Medicine. Over the 3 years BioEYES has reached 1332 Access Monash students.
We were then given an opportunity to view the Zebra Fish single cell Zygotes and larvae through the sophisticated microscopes located in the laboratory at where we were hosted.
The final activity was to tour through the Regenerative Medicine research aquarium in which Zebra Fish are produced, alongside other varieties (Epaulet Sharks and Axolotls) that have the genetic capability to regenerate and restore cells in their bodies.
The conversation underscored the importance of demystifying science and research for young people as a foundation motivator to pursue a scientific career. It reinforces the view that rhetoric about scientific and technological development need to be matched with funding to enable the development of skills our country needs.
Attached is an Information Fact Sheet on the BioEYES program.
