An ISU junior is using her long term interests in teaching and the sciences to enhance education at the Biotechnology Outreach Education Center.

Arlene D’Souza has been interested in biology since childhood. The junior in biology and secondary education is interning at the Biotechnology Outreach Education Center, located in the Microbiology Building.

“Protecting natural resources is important and I want to help spread the word,” D’Souza said.

She said her goals are to learn how to present lab activities, and to gain experience working with teachers.

The Biology Outreach Education Center holds workshops for student field trips, pre-service programs, or for students who may want to become teachers, D’Souza said.

Mike Zeller, biotechnology program coordinator, said workshops are held for people of all ages. He said students come in from all over the state, as far away as Davenport. Last week they had a group of adults from Bulgaria come through the workshop, he said.

Zeller said D’Souza is the second student intern that the biotechnology center has had, and it is part of Biology Educators Training and Learning. Zeller said D’Souza does a lot at the center and is gaining experience that will eventually lead her to teach the teachers of sciences.

The interns work for a full academic year and it gives them a chance to “learn the ropes of education,” he said. Interns like D’Souza will be able to teach younger students who come into the lab.

Third- through twelfth-graders often come into the lab on school field trips, Zeller said, and D’Souza will be given a chance to teach them.

D’Souza also works to proofread curricula and has become a tester for some activities to see if they make sense, Zeller said. D’Souza said she has also gained the experience of working with teachers and students.

“I have lots of ideas for resources and ideas for activities for future classrooms to make them run smoothly,” D’Souza said.

D’Souza would like to teach junior high or high school science after graduating from Iowa State.

Zeller said a student intern brings a new perspective to the lab.

“It’s a really, really great opportunity to get the experience. I would like to see more students doing this,” he said.