1 August, 2003
Michael Marchizza
Largo High School
Largo, Maryland
To the National Science Foundation,
It is with great gratitude that I thank you for your grant that supported the Research Experience for Teachers in the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History Research Training Program.
As an educator with the Prince George’s County Public School system for the past 29 years, it was beyond my wildest dreams to be offered this once in a lifetime opportunity for me to work with scientists at the National Museum of Natural History. I have been able to experience the subject matter I teach applied to actual research. The program I chose, Magnolia Genes, allowed me to perform many of the lab techniques that we have talked about in my classes. Furthermore, to be able to work with such a knowledgeable, experienced, prestigious, dedicated scientist as Dr. Elizabeth Zimmer was as exciting as the research itself. As my research advisor and mentor, Dr. Zimmer gave me insight into the latest techniques, applications, and vast amounts of knowledge concerning DNA science, plant systematics, and ongoing research in those fields. My future students will greatly benefit from not only my experiences this summer, but also from the continued liason between Dr. Zimmer and her staff at the Lab for Molecular Science and myself as I head back to the classroom in the fall.
Your grant allowed me to apply many of the topics I have talked about in my classroom and experience them on a level that I had not done before. I was able to isolate DNA using techniques I did not know existed. I was able to perform PCR to amplify DNA in order to sequence the gene fragments. Now, having actually done those procedures, it will make it so much more real for my students when I share this information and my experiences with them. The Research Experience for Teachers not only raised my level of interest and enthusiasm, but I know that this will carry over into my classroom and raise their levels of interest and enthusiasm for science as well.
Again, thank you so much for this opportunity. It has been an incredible experience for me and will prove to be invaluable to my future students.
Sincerely,
Michael Marchizza
Research Experience for Teachers, 2003
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