PEER Webcasts Provide STEM, Veterinary Enrichment to U.S., International Students
The Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences’ (CVM) PEER Program continues to build its webcast library this fall with a new lineup of presentations.
Collaborating with KAMU, PEER provides live STEM educational webcasts to kindergarten through 12th-grade students nationwide and abroad.
These presentations feature professors, scientists, veterinary students, technicians, and clinicians who inform viewers about veterinary- and STEM-related topics aligned with state science education standards.
This semester’s topics will range from precision medicine to preparing for veterinary school; presentations enable elementary and secondary students to make relevant connections between science and real-world careers.
KAMU films each webcast in high definition, and the segments are uploaded to the PEER YouTube channel for future viewing.
Programming that will be recorded and added this fall include:
- “The Path to Veterinary School”— On Oct. 3, Dr. Glennon Mays, director of recruiting and student services and clinical associate professor of equine field services, will provide tips and strategies for students seeking to attend veterinary school. From high school classes and summer jobs to college coursework and extracurricular activities, Mays will set students on the proper path to pursue their veterinary dreams!
- “Hitting the Mark: Precision Medicine in Veterinary and Human Health”— On Oct. 17, Dr. Garry Adams, a senior professor in the CVM, will describe the future of medicine for both humans and animals. No longer will the doctor say “Stick out your tongue and say ahh”, but instead, “Let’s look at your genome” as precision medicine treats the individual and not the average.
- “A Sticky Problem: Tick-Borne Diseases in Humans and Animals”— On Nov. 7, Dr. Albert Mulenga, a professor and associate head of the CVM’s Veterinary Pathobiology Department (VTPB), will provide insight on the growing incidence of tick-borne diseases, particularly Lyme disease and cattle fever. He also will describe the unique feeding mechanisms of ticks and current research into tick-borne disease vaccinations
- “Horse-sense: Equine Internal Medicine”— On Nov. 14, Dr. Michelle Coleman, associate department head for academic programs and assistant professor of large animal internal medicine, will describe the career field of equine internal medicine. Students will learn the necessary education and skills to pursue this career and get a glimpse of a day in the life of an equine internal medicine veterinarian.
Past programs recently uploaded to the PEER YouTube channel include:
- “Chew on This: Monogastrics and Hindgut Fermenters”— Dr. Carly Patterson, a CVM clinical assistant professor, takes viewers on a tour of the digestive systems of various species, explaining the differences in monogastric, hindgut fermenters (modified monogastric species), and ruminant animals.
- “Decoding Life: Biomedical Genomics”— Dr. Loren Skow, a CVM senior professor, discusses biomedical genomics, describing the process of sequencing and analyzing genomes, illustrating how this technology impacts modern medicine, and explaining why comparing genomics of various species has important implications for humans and animals.
- “How and Why Organisms Tell Time”— Dr. Deb Bell-Pederson, a professor of biology and faculty member in the Texas A&M Biological Clocks Research Center, discusses the circadian clock and its impact on our daily lives, exploring how this clock regulates our sleep/wake cycle, cell division, and rhythms in gene expression, as well as how defects in the clock are associated with a wide range of diseases, such as mental disorders, metabolic syndrome, and cancer.
- “Science and You”— Dr. Larry Johnson, a CVM professor and PEER principal investigator, discusses the many possibilities of scientific discovery by defining science, discussing scientific methods, and exploring careers in science, ranging from engineering, to medicine, to agriculture, to pharmacology, to veterinary medicine, and medical research. The presentation also included the benefits of a science career and the worldwide travels of a scientist (including a trip around the world). Johnson also shows several veterinary medical animal specimens as he explains what scientists do and how they achieve their goals. The presentation launched the fall 2018 PEER program webcast season on Sept. 12.
Article by Torri Whitaker
