The National Science Foundation has awarded a $300,000 grant to Public Education Foundation and University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts to support the first-in-the nation cross-country collaboration using the gigabit network.
With USC, students at STEM School Chattanooga are designing experiments to study the effects of human activity on microbial ecosystems both in Chattanooga, as well as a continent away in the Pacific Ocean. Keri Randolph, vice president of Learning at PEF and Maria Jefferson, student at STEM School Chattanooga, are representing Chattanooga at the national US Ignite and GENI Summit in Washington D.C. Wednesday, as they showcase the results of this grant.
Students are able to do real research by harnessing the power of a 4K video microscope and the research expertise of a Tier 1 research university. Using the 4K microscope, ocean samples are streamed directly into a biology classroom in STEM School Chattanooga and explained by marine biology professors at USC.