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From the Lab to the Community

A goal of Science Outreach at UNC is to build community between university educators and our local schools. Through a variety of of educational programs, we aim to bring research principles and scienctific discovery from the laboratory into the K-12 classrooms of North Carolina and beyond. This occurs through providing educational resources to teachers, presenting scienctific workshops in local classrooms, and exposing students to rewarding careers in scientific research.

North Carolina DNA Day

NC DNA Day Logo

Since 2007, our flagship science outreach event has been North Carolina DNA Day. Every April, over 100 UNC graduate students and postdocs travel to high school science classrooms across the state to teach an engaging and interactive lesson about an aspect of genetics and genomics. In addition to learning more about how DNA is important to their lives, students get the chance to meet and interact with a young scientist. Often this is transformative experience for a high school student who may have had preconceived notions about what a scientist looks like.

To find out more about NC DNA Day or to get involved, check out the NC DNA Day website!

HSW teaching

Homeschool Workshop

Started by a UNC graduate student who was home-schooled herself, this workshop provides quality hands-on scientific lessons to the large community of local home-schooled children. Once a month, UNC graduate students develop and present engaging lessons on a wide range of scientific topics. For more information or to get involved, contact Noelle Romero.