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Borrowing from the slang of the Old West, inner-city youth sometimes refer to their groups of friends as 'posses.' In academic circles, New York's successful Posse Foundation has given the word a new meaning: a group of inner-city high school students trained as leaders and role models, then enrolled at top colleges and universities. Now chemist Irving Epstein will collaborate with the Posse Foundation to bring two 'science posses' to Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts—in addition to the 10 Posse Foundation students that already enter Brandeis each year. He will work with the foundation to develop a program that focuses on science and will participate in the selection of students. "We want to take kids who, on paper, look like they can't succeed in science, and help them to do just that," Epstein said. He will work to revamp Brandeis's student selection process to take into account the potential of the science posse candidates, develop a college preparation course for high school seniors, and add a two-week on-campus summer "science boot camp" for entering freshmen. "We're going to train students in the culture of science before their first day of classes," said Epstein, who also hopes to help other universities establish science posse programs. Epstein not only wants to attract inner-city students—most of them underrepresented minorities, first-generation college students, or both—into science, he also he wants to prevent unexciting introductory chemistry courses from driving students away from science majors. A chemist who pioneered the systematic design and study of oscillating chemical reactions—research with practical applications in biology and many other fields of science— Epstein clearly finds chemistry anything but boring. "General chemistry, for many students, is seen more as an obstacle, instead of something that's intellectually interesting," he pointed out. So, based on student feedback, Epstein plans to create a new kind of general chemistry course, one that minimizes lectures and maximizes fun, including visual demonstrations, hands-on experience, and computer games. Epstein is the ideal scientist to bring fun into the classroom. Thirty years ago, he was looking for a summer project for an undergraduate when he stumbled across an article about pattern formation in chemical systems. It turned his life around, in the lab and the classroom. He changed the focus of his research from quantum mechanics to pattern formation and nonlinear dynamics, and ever since, he has been using chemicals in his classes that, when combined, result in striking swirl patterns or rhythmical changes from one color to another. "This kind of behavior is eye-catching and makes students wonder about its causes," he explained. "If they can understand why chemicals behave this way, we can get them thinking and asking questions like scientists."
Dr. Epstein is also Henry F. Fischbach Chair in Chemistry at Brandeis University.
RESEARCH ABSTRACT SUMMARY:
Irving Epstein's primary research interests lie in the area of nonlinear chemical dynamics. His HHMI project has two aims: to develop a rigorous precollege program for inner-city and other high school students who are underrepresented in science, with the goal of having them major in science at Brandeis University, and to revamp the introductory chemistry course so that it includes more activities to spark students' interest in this subject.
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Photo: Robert Klein/AP © HHMI
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