Kyle Frantz, assistant professor
of biology, has won the Society for Neuroscience’s 2007 Next Generation Award.
The award recognizes a junior faculty member who has made outstanding
contributions to public outreach and scientific education.
Frantz formally received the award at the society’s annual conference in San Diego last weekend.
“I’m accepting the award on behalf of everyone
who’s put in the time and effort to make these programs run,” she said.
Frantz actually occupies an
unusual position in the world of university science. She is one of two biology
faculty members who also hold positions as science educators with the Center
for Behavioral Neuroscience. So while she works on her main line of research – modeling
the mechanisms of drug use using adolescent rats – she also directs several
different science education projects, and works on several others.
Most professional scientists are
only able to approach science education as a volunteer project, Frantz said. But
it’s part of her job, and that allows her to take a more systematic approach.
“Our goal is to conduct research
on the best practices in neuroscience education,” she said.
Frantz runs an annual
Neuroscience Exposition at Zoo Atlanta, which includes both a day of education
for middle-school students and a larger event for the general public. She
directs a summer program of intense, mentored research for local high school
students, and this past year coordinated a Best Practices in Scientific
Education conference.
Frantz isn’t the only person
from Georgia State to be recognized at the Society for Neuroscience conference.
Laura Carruth, also an assistant professor of biology and the other CBN Science
Educator, won the “Neuroscientist-Teacher Partnership Award” along with Sally
Murphy, a teacher at Riverwood High School in Fulton County.
Carruth and Murphy created the
week-long summer science camp for rising fifth- through eighth-graders. The
camp is housed at Renfroe Middle School in Decatur,
and is co-sponsored by the Center for Behavioral Neuroscience, which is housed
at Georgia State, and the Dana Alliance for Brain
Initiatives.
