This project will support graduate student fellows who will act as the human interface to motivationally communicate to middle school teachers and students the excitement and innovations that are the scientific underpinnings of today?s technologically savvy, modern society. The rationale for this program is the need to solidly ground this country's educators and young students in STEM-theme pedagogy. In the long-term such research-based education and training is a prerequisite for facing the emerging societal challenge to generate technologies that will maintain a sustainable standard of living, which ultimately will be dependent on renewable sources of energy and industrial materials. This program builds on Iowa State University's established scholarly infrastructures that are designed to be interdisciplinary and address key technology gaps for harnessing renewable energy sources (solar energy) and generate carbon-based energy and chemicals using atmospheric CO2 as the ultimate carbon-source. This interdisciplinary research integrates core themes that are grounded in STEM research, which include the fields of plant sciences, agro-engineering, biocatalysis, biochemical pathway discovery and metabolic engineering, bioinformatics, biomaterials, chemical catalysis, and mathematics. Broader impacts of the project include increased professional development opportunities for middle school science teachers; expanded educational and career opportunities for K12 students in STEM disciplines, especially those from underrepresented minorities and economically disadvantaged; benefits to US economy resulting from well-trained, globally competitive workforce; and recruitment of female and underrepresented minority graduate students to associated academic programs.
