Foldscope at Morgan State, Historically Black College

Aug 07, 2018 • 9:04 PM UTC

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Manu Prakash

I am a faculty at Stanford and run the Prakash Lab at Department of Bioengineering at Stanford University. Foldscope community is at the heart of our Frugal Science movement - and I can not tell you how proud I am of this community and grassroots movement. Find our work here: http://prakashlab.stanford.edu

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I want to quickly introduce the foldscope community to two remarkable individuals I met at Microscopy and Microanalysis 2018 meeting in Baltimore.
I was giving a morning talk and accidentally I flipped to see the abstract book a night before. Hidden in that book, I was thrilled to find an abstract from Dr Frank and Dr Simon from Morgan State University. I sent them a quick email in the middle of the night and I heard back. What I learned – and discovered was fascinating.

Prof Frank and Prof Simon teach histology, pathology and development biology at Morgan State; one of the largest Historically black college in Baltimore region. When they heard about foldscope last year; they decided to implement a program engaging the students (they reach 100’s of students intro to biology) in a foldscope program focused on curiosity and discovery. They have the challenge of teaching 100’s of students, from all walks and fields. With challenges we all face, resources are scarce. Instead of going on with same old, they decided to bring a change and empowered students in the classrooms to actually explore the microscopic world. From traditional histology to development biology, an incredible number of ideas were introduced to the students and the kids responded. I will let them describe the program; but just wanted to share how excited I am when I meet people in our community that meet new challenges.

Beyond a fantastic program that thy intend to continue this year; I also found just remarkable human beings so passionate about helping students succeed. It’s folks like Simon and Frank and the foldscope community; that is the key asset. It’s very clear to me, this is a seed for a broader program focused on state colleges across the US.
Often enough, we are excited and want to engage helping and mentoring others; but it’s hard. It takes time (which we all have so little). It takes empathy and energy. It takes effort and ignoring all the nay sayers when you want to try something new. But Simon and Frank, and thousands of other foldscope super users are an example to forge ahead and be the change in the community.
Meeting them both today in person, I was reminded “Be the change you want to see in your community – Mahatma Gandhi.
I wish I knew how to thank them, and thousands of selfless community members in our foldscope family. I don’t know any way I can thank you all enough; but I am often reminded by the power of our community – and it strengthens our resolves to keep pushing forward.
I will let these two individuals actually tell the story and journey they are both on; but want us to acknowledge – of each one of us does a little bit in getting science accessible to kids around you, we might find a different world and world view in a few years. So get off your seats and let’s do this..
Cheers
Manu