As part of our outreach activities we have established a relationship with Groton High School, located about 15 miles from Ithaca. Four people from this NSF project participated in a two-week outreach program during May 2002.

First, we invited the high school biology seniors to spend a day working in our lab at Cornell, and we followed up with several full days of teaching in the biology sections at the Groton school. We interacted with five different biology classes and worked through a variety of different activities with each group. Activities included plant pollination, DNA extraction, gel electrophoresis and analysis of genetic diversity, accompanied by a slide show and discussions about the relationship between molecular genetics, agricultural productivity and global population growth.