Roberta
Harbrucker
Gainesville, Florida
Newberry High School
Biology, Biology Honors, BioTechnology
harbrurm@sbac.edu
Innovative Microbiology Workshops
I have worked with Cynthia Holland, Alice O'Rourke and Elaine
Taylor in conjunction with 3M and UF. Together we have put
together a lab manual/resource guide to assist teachers in
microbiology instruction. 3M makes Petrifilm Plates that are easy
to use for bacterial and mold research. My role has been to
prepare and facilitate workshops that instruct teachers across
the state of Florida.
Students and families benefit from this instruction by
becoming aware of how bacteria can spread and methods to treat or
kill bacteria. Food and Environmental Safety labs help to make
students aware of procedures used to evaluate the health of their
surroundings.
The Teacher Research Update Experience (TRUE) is an
awesome program!
TRUE Research Experience
This has been a dream come true! Once in a while a
summer comes along when the experiences you have really enliven
you to grow as a teacher. This has been one of those summers. Dr.
Shanmugam has been away from the lab that I have worked in this
summer. In spite of this unavoidable absence his presence has
been felt through the teamwork of his graduate assistants. Adnan,
Bill and John have demonstrated a collaborative effort that is
very effective. I have felt like a team member right along with
them. This has helped me to be proud of my efforts and also able
to accept my inadequacies and mistakes. I have learned how to
carry out PCR (polymerase chain reactions) reactions and
mini-preps (isolating plasmids from bacteria). I also learned how
to transform bacteria (putting genetically engineered plasmids
into plasmid-free bacteria), digest (enzymatically cut) DNA, and
to ligate (attach) DNA fragments. Currently I have prepared a
plasmid that has a small segment of DNA that is the operator
region of the TorR gene. This plasmid won't make history, but
hopefully the next one I make will enable Dr. Shanmugam's lab to
research the activity of this region. I look forward to seeing
this research continue. Thank you, Adnan, for your patience in
teaching me some of the tools of the trade.
Personally, I have seen myself catch the 'fever'. This is very catching. The 'fever' that I
am talking about is the research 'fever'. Symptoms include:
willingness to read dry journal articles that are difficult to
understand, skipping lunch so as to get more experimentation done
in a day, willingness to deal with toxic chemicals, such as
ethidium bromide, having fun in the cold-room, and eagerly
anticipating what might be accomplished next week. Cure -
???? If a cure exists, please don't offer it to me. I am still
enjoying the symptoms. During these 7 weeks, I have experienced
all of the above symptoms. I have also left the lab and sat down
at night and anticipated the direction we would go the next day.
It is not surprising that I have often been wrong, but I am
finding that I am more right than wrong as the 7 weeks comes to a
close. Thanks to the TRUE program and Dr. Shanmugam's lab I will
be 'sick' with this 'fever' for a while.
The following are my favorite links:
E. Coli bacteria article
Newberry High School
FACEE
Grant: Microbiology Workshop
I would like to encourage any of you who have had thoughts of
participating in the TRUE program to go for it!
This IS worth the effort.
Dr. Parker Small enlightened me to the ways of the influenza
virus. Dr. Dan Brown and Dr. Farmarie presented DNA polymerase
chain reaction (PCR) so that I could really understand it. Many
professors and instructors have shared their best with us. I have
used what they taught me in Dr. Shanmugam's lab.
Thank you to each professor, participant and TRUE
"staffer" for a great 7 weeks. A special thanks to
Adnan, Bill, John, Cindy and Steph.
E. Coli Bacteria