07-08 February 2024
Club Rush is a semi-annual, 2-day event hosted by Utah Valley University where students can represent their clubs and invite peers to join. Hundreds of college students cycle in and out of the event. We wanted to establish a foothold in the UVU community, so we participated to show off our project and encourage students to engage with the biotechnology program.
In a collaborative effort with UVU’s chapter of BioHive, a state-wide organization focused on undergraduate opportunities that include networking with and exploring biotech companies across Utah, we introduced students to synthetic biology. At Club Rush, we hosted a table promoting iGEM, Bloom Busters, and signed students up for BioHive. We had a lot of engagement – displaying microscopes, samples of our algae, and demonstrating simple experiments. This semester over 400 students cycled through club rush.
Club Rush was an excellent introduction to both synthetic biology and the biotechnology program for the UVU student body. We had a lot of fun discussing and explaining both our work and BioHive to the students. Fun and exciting events are actively being planned for the BioHive students. We were able to get the Bloom Busters name out there and earned the interest of STEM and non-STEM students alike and felt very worth the time and effort.
16 February 2024
UCUR (Utah Conference on Undergraduate Research) is a Utah-wide conference that highlights undergraduate research. Held at a different college campus every year, UCUR 2024 was hosted by Utah Valley University. Students presented their ongoing work from varying fields including life sciences, chemistry, earth science, and mathematics.
One of our current iGEM team members (Elise Bennett) presented the precursor work to the Bloom Busters project, previously titled “Bloom-B-Gone". Interested students learned about how we engineered Chlamy and how students can get involved with competitions such as iGEM. Students asked questions regarding synthetic biology and biotechnology and became inspired by the opportunities presented in those fields.
UCUR emphasized the need for student driven projects, like Bloom Busters, from all scientific fields. It was particularly focused on interdisciplinary projects and the benefits of collaboration between young scientists and their mentors.
11 March 2024
Richfield Residential Hall is a dormitory (residential school) in Richfield, Utah, sponsored by the Navajo (Dine) Nation. The school consists of traditional Native American students from the reservation. Our team has been interested in promoting science via inclusive practices and engagement with youth and communities in more rural areas. Many of the students at Richfield are from areas of the reservation where there is no electricity or running water. Because of this their parents decide to send them to Richfield to further their education. We had already established a connection to Richfield’s 21st Century Community learning center’s Program Coordinator, when we reached out – he was more than happy to have us instruct his students.
During our visit we became acquainted with some of the history of the Dine people. We gave a presentation on iGEM, synthetic biology, and the Bloom Busters project. We conducted various synthetic biology activities with the class of 67 students, including pipette by number (painting with micropipettes), DNA extractions, natural pH indicators, plasmid reconstruction, and enzyme activity. We were also able to have dinner with the students and overall had a enriching mutual exchange in knowledge and culture during this visit.
While we enjoyed the experience, we also realized that we needed to cater more to the specific grade level of students participating. For example, the enzyme activity was doable for the juniors and seniors whereas the sophomores and freshman struggled. Overall, we considered the visit a success because students were engaged, interested, and all participated. However, we would have adjusted our presentation to make it a bit less technical. The teachers at the school were also interested in the activities and mentioned to us that the students learn about GMO’s in regular science classes but are never able to do hands on activities on synthetic biology. The director and the students requested a visit to our lab at a future date.
Interview: 14 March 2024, Publication: 15 March 2024
We contacted a reporter with the Utah County newspaper, The Daily Herald, to spread the word of our project. We mainly wanted to educate the local community on the dangers of eutrophication and the misunderstood nature of GMOs (genetically modified organisms).
Two of the team members (Erick Alvarez and Natalia Frezzia) were interviewed for the newspaper and had a chance to discuss various concepts of synthetic biology and environmental science. The topics of conversation included eutrophication, the dangers of toxic algal blooms, the iGEM competition, and the Bloom Busters project.
The article was a wonderful opportunity to educate the local community about synthetic biology and GMOs in a very simple way. It went smoothly and was a fun experience discussing science with non-science people. It offered good practice in public speaking as we came to understand more clearly what we should focus on during “elevator pitches” or other presentations.
25 March 2024
We had an agreement with the local Blaze Pizza fast-food franchise in Orem, Utah to to raise funds for our project and attendance at the iGEM jamboree.
We conducted a fundraiser at a local pizza franchise where we received 20% of all profits made within a 3-hour timeframe. Customers were expected to claim affiliation with Bloom Busters for the proceeds to be attributed to our team. As a result, members of the team presented entering customers with fliers and explanations of the Bloom Busters project.
We spoke to ~300 people about our project and the importance and dangers of eutrophication. Many were unaware of the algal bloom problem (just that the lake was mostly unusable), and many appreciated our work. Most customers said that if it was cleared up, they would visit Utah Lake more often.
27 March 2024
Utah Valley University’s College of Science hosted a research seminar in which professors and the students in their labs could present a 5-minute presentation of their research. They could also present the lab’s availability for new students. We felt that this was a wonderful opportunity to spark an interest in synthetic biology research and encourage participation in future iGEM competitions.
The 5 minute seminar was a means to introduce research opportunities to all the students in the biology department. The iGEM project was summarized and the competition aspect explained to potentially interested students through a short presentation.
The presentation went well as students from across the department of biology asked several questions about the iGEM competition itself. Many students were also interested in the type of background one should have when working in synthetic biology. There was a particular intrigue in the different deliverables required by the competition. They were all encouraged to apply for the school’s iGEM team next year.
03 April 2024
At Utah Valley University, there is a course titled BIOL 497R (Biology Colloquium) where students are presented with a variety of research topics and papers. We were invited to do a presentation at the colloquium. We took opportunity to present our research to a class of graduating Biology majors and further engage them in research and conservation efforts.
We were part of a panel of presenting student researchers for the Senior Biology Colloquium where we presented on the importance of our project, the background research that informed our research efforts, and the current state of our gene construction. As part of the Colloquium, we fielded questions from the students and instructors that were in attendance, which we used to both further inform them on the importance of our research and we to better inform our own work going forward.
The presentation went very well as we were able to go into much more technical detail about our work than most other educational outreach because they were senior biology undergraduates. The students found it compelling that research such as ours was taking place at our non-research focused university. We also realized the importance of asking provoking questions and answering questions in a concise way; we took note of that for the rest for our future outreach events.
03 April 2024
Utah Valley University hosted Science Night, a community event about demonstrating why science is fun. It consisted of a variety of activities, shows, and booths set up across campus. As an iGEM team, we were offered the chance to represent the biotechnology program and host a booth that showcased both our work and fun activities for children and adults alike. We felt that this was another means to interact with the community and teach children about the joys of science.
We hosted a booth throughout the event with a DNA extraction activity, a DNA candy activity, and a microscope to show fluorescent markers. We also presented information about iGEM, our project, and the biotechnology program including our own stickers and our team brochures. As we did the activities with the children, we simultaneously explained our work to their parents. We handed out brochures, stickers, and candy to anyone who would listen. Many other university students also came to see us.
The event was a bigger success than anticipated, with many more visitors than we expected. We absolutely loved interacting with the kids (they loved making DNA molecules with candy) and their parents seemed to be quite interested in the work we were doing. It was another great opportunity to introduce the community to science, biotechnology, and GMOs in a fun and simple way. Our participation also established strong support from the College of Science. This also defined the way we managed tabled events moving forward with strong visuals and fun activities.
16 April 2024
“The Sustainability Summit at Utah Valley University (UVU) is organized to bring together diverse stakeholders, including students, faculty, staff, community members, and industry leaders, to discuss and promote sustainable practices that address environmental, economic, and social challenges. It also provides educational opportunities for participants to learn about best practices, emerging trends, and innovative solutions in sustainability.” – UVU’s 2024 Sustainability Summit
We hosted a table throughout the entirety of the summit. During breaks between presentations, we spoke with attendees about our project, iGEM, and the school’s biotechnology program. We invited all to follow our project online.
Our table received a lot of engagement. We spoke with several people about the eutrophication problem at Utah Lake and our proposed solution. We received a lot of praise and encouragement to continue our work. This is also the place where we learned about the Utah Lake Festival that we would later attend and host a table at.
16 April 2024
Utah Valley University has a unique program with multiple local high schools where students can take college classes in their local high school and receive college credit at a reduced rate. This program is called concurrent enrollment. Dr. Colleen Hough and Dr. Eric Domyan, as professors in the biotechnology program, are tasked with involvement in the local high school’s biotech concurrent enrollment program. The participating students spent the day at UVU touring the campus, the labs, and getting to know the biotechnology professors. As a team, we participated in their trip by introducing the students to synthetic biology and holding several large mini-iGEM activities for all the students.
We gave a presentation on the basics of synthetic biology, the Bloom Busters project, and iGEM. The bulk of our participation was a mini-iGEM conference. The high school students organized themselves into groups, chose iGEM villages, were assigned mentors (members of the Bloom Busters team), and had an hour to design their own synthetic biology research project. At the end of the activity, students presented their work to their peers, and the mentors voted on the best project in each village. The winning teams received some UVU gear and snack prizes. The entire activity was planned and run completely by the Bloom Busters team.
The students really understood the work being presented and they had no issue being immersed and participating in our activity, due to their established biotech interest. The event was a massive success as the high school teachers themselves really appreciated it as well. This inspired us to contact other high schools in hopes they would allow us to present and conduct our activity for their students as well. The only change we felt was necessary was to assign a specific Bloom Busters team member as the single mentor for a particular group. It became a bit hectic having many mentors for the entire village so we felt consolidating would be a better fit for future iterations of this activity. The students were very engaged in their projects and had creative ideas. One of the winning teams from the bioremediation group thought of colonizing Mars with roaches to produce an overabundance of methane to create an ozone layer.
18 April 2024
Altitude Lab’s Demo Day is an annual showcase for biotech companies in Utah. Held at the University of Utah, the demo day is an opportunity to discover innovation, network, and visit vendors all surrounding biotechnology. We attended the event to network with local experts who may be interested in offering insight into our work. Additionally, we searched for potential financial sponsors.
There were several panels in which industry professionals showcased their findings with those in attendance. This also consisted of equipment vendors and expos on wet and dry lab techniques in development. As we went through the showcase, we spoke to anyone who was willing to listen to what we had to say about our work. Many asked if we were taking donations and we sent them our information. More than anything, we used this as a chance to learn about different biotech techniques and technologies that we could use to make our project more robust.
Overall, the event went well as we learned much pertaining to procedural methods we could apply to Bloom Busters. This was also the place where we became acquainted with the BYU iGEM team and set up a future date for collaboration. We also met with many high school students in association with BioHive and discussed different life science industries and opportunities such as iGEM.
22 April 2024
Utah Valley University’s poster symposium showcased the school’s current research endeavors. Students presented posters of their work, received feedback from professors, and were questioned by and collaborated with their peers. This was an opportunity to format our progress into a poster and share our work in a more personalized environment.
The team presented a poster of the Bloom Busters project and answered questions regarding environmental conservation. The team also answered questions about synthetic biology and general interest in scientific research. The team members came prepared to discuss and explain all aspects of the project that had been accomplished thus far.
The experience taught us about the other projects on campus but also allowed us to inspire others and their work. The showcase offered team members time to practice live poster presentations.
23 April 2024
We set up a meeting with two of the environmental scientists that lead Utah’s Division of Water Quality (DWQ). This is a subdivision of the Utah Department of Environmental Quality that studies and addresses environmental issues across the state. The intent of the meeting was to gain a deeper understanding of the causes behind the algal blooms in Utah Lake. We wanted to study contributing factors including temperature, climate, sediment cycling, and other external forces.
Members of our team spoke with Dr. Hannah Bonner and Dr. Scott Daly about Utah Lake and gained some more insight into the algal blooms appearing in Zion National Park and across Utah.
Dr. Bonner and Dr. Daly provided valuable information on the numerous factors contributing to blooms, the direction of water treatment plants that feed into the lake, a few of the studies, and approaches to managing the blooms. Dr. Daly is over the Utah Lake water quality study and specifically oversees water quality in the Utah Lake watershed. Water treatment plants have regulations that within the next 5 years phosphate levels must be monitored and reduced to help with eutrophication. We also learned that the DWQ knows that nitrogen is an issue but due to cost restraints nitrogen is not regulated in the water treatment plants. We were encouraged as we understood that our project could help mitigate the great costs pertaining to nitrate reduction. Dr. Daly also spoke on how the hope is that wastewater treatment plants will hopefully not be causing more issues for Utah Lake but there are currently no regulations on farmland. We received data regarding the downstream effect farms have on Utah Lake and the nutrient levels we then applied to our modeling.
06 May 2024
We had visited earlier with Richfield Residential School and discovered an opportunity for a mutually beneficial collaboration at a later date.
During their tour of UVU we showed the students from Richfield our labs where our experiments are run as well as where we keep our samples. We also had the opportunity to give them a tour of the zoology labs where all the animals are held and the herbarium. When touring the UVU Herbarium, whose director teaches classes on anti-colonialism and the Dine language, the Richfield students were taught about the collaboration between the director and the Dine Nations’ leaders to ensure no sacred or indigenous people’s lands were damaged or trespassed upon to collect plant samples.
It was a unique experience being able to see the same group of students again a couple of months later. There were a few students who seemed impacted by the two presentations we had done and wanted to know more about how to get involved with synthetic biology.
09 May 2024
Utah County Academy of Science (UCAS) is an early college high school that emphasizes excellence in STEM. It provides high school students the opportunity to take college courses work while receiving their high school diploma in a supportive environment. Since UCAS has a direct collaboration with Utah Valley University, we reached out to see if we could present to their students about iGEM and the Bloom Buster project in the hopes that it could inspire a high school team for future iGEM conferences.
We hosted a table and held a question-and-answer session for all the students during their lunch period. We had some biotech equipment set up, our project poster, and some general info on the Bloom Busters project and iGEM competition. Students were welcome to come and talk to us regarding our work, synthetic biology, and how they could get involved, especially if they pursued their undergraduate studies at Utah Valley University. We even conducted a salivary DNA extraction demonstration, which students found exciting. Students interested in all STEM fields joined in our discussions.
The students seemed really engaged at our table and were very talkative; we were constantly speaking with different students! At this point, our passion for working with high school students grew and we hoped to build a network with local schools as a means of attracting more youth towards biotechnology.
15-16 May 2024
Due to our major success with the biotech concurrent enrollment students, we reached out to surrounding high schools to present a similar presentation and have them participate in our mini-iGEM competition. The teachers we reached out to were excited and supportive, including teachers of general biology and environmental science. We wanted to extend our outreach to more youth in the hopes more young students would find synthetic biology and biotechnology an exciting endeavor.
We gave a brief presentation on synthetic biology, iGEM, and our project to seven biology and environmental science classes. We spent the remainder of the class time doing our mini-iGEM competition. The only procedural difference was that we had assigned a specific Bloom Busters team member as the mentor of a particular group. The students then presented their project proposal to the entire class. The winners of the competition won some small prizes.
After our first visit, we realized that very few students had a grasp on what synthetic biology really was (same presentation used for the concurrent enrollment students). As a result, we adjusted our presentation to be more beginner friendly. Due to the knowledge gap between students, we felt that having an assigned mentor would be more appropriate as a consistent means of advice. This iteration of our mini-iGEM activity felt more suited for the students and really encouraged collaboration between group mates. The students were quite engaged and enthusiastic about presenting their ambitious and innovative ideas. The teachers absolutely loved our visit and invited us to return in Fall 2024.
17 May 2024
Dr. Kevin Shurtleff, a chemistry professor at UVU, engineered a specialized boat to remove algal blooms as compost in the hopes of using it as a biofuel. We were invited to tour his boat and gain insight into his clean-up and conservation efforts on Utah Lake. It was a field experience we needed as all our work up until that point was conceptual and theoretical. It was an excellent moment to witness first-hand the issues the lake was facing and to develop deeper appreciation for the research we were conducting.
Dr. Shurtleff described the history of the lake’s ecosystem, the locations and causes of blooms, when toxins appear to be released, and what his vision for the blooms was. We received a tour of the boat, its filtration mechanism, and the process by which his student employees clean the lake. He further explained that the current algaecide treatment method exacerbates the cyanobacteria issue by releasing more nutrients causing an even larger bloom than what was occurring before. We also set apart time to pick up trash along the lakeshore.
Dr. Shurtleff offered valuable information on both the lake, the formation of blooms, and the current clean-up process. Though his solution works, it is not particularly efficient or practical. During the summer months, student employees man the boat for 8-hour shifts, twice a day, 6 days a week, every week, for a total of 4 months. It takes approximately 15 days to clean a square-mile and costs about $120,000 every year. These statistics made it evident that our project could be a very practical and cost-effective solution if designed correctly. Our planned implementation would be using our transformed algae as a water treatment within treatment plants before disposal into the lake. Instead of simply acting as a treatment for the algal blooms, just as the boat currently does, Bloom Busters could act as a preventative measure. Regardless, we have also come to understand that there are other factors contributing to the HABs (fertilizer runoff, sediment dispersion, lack of fish filtering), so alternative measures would be needed to fully address the problem. Lastly, Dr. Shurtleff made suggestions regarding our method of re-collecting phosphate-loaded Chlamy and reusing it for other industries.
08 June 2024
“The main goals of the Utah Lake Festival are to educate the public about what is being done to improve the lake, promote recreational activities, and allow the attendees to enjoy a beautiful Saturday at one of Utah’s greatest natural resources” (from Utah Lake Festival 2024). As mentioned in the previous statement, the Utah Lake Festival is an annual community event celebrating the lake as a recreational facility and a beautiful ecosystem. We found that their overall goal was similar to ours, to bring attention to and care for the lake. We decided this was something we wanted to be a part of no matter the level of involvement.
We set up a table at the festival that allowed us to conduct similar activities to those of UVU’s Science Night and similar events. We had the chance to discuss our project with families in a light-hearted setting with the lake itself as our backdrop. Like our previous outreach events, we demonstrated DNA extraction, DNA candy building, and even handed out our Bloom Busters stickers that we created.
To discuss our project in the direct presence of algal blooms made for a very powerful visual. It really emphasized the urgency of the issue and the importance of our project as we described it to guests. We also had the chance to listen to the concerns of the locals regarding water pollution. It suggested that these problems were more serious to the public than we may have originally thought.
12 June 2024
The Title VI Indian Education program is designed to help meet the unique cultural, language, and educational needs of native youth. Justin Allison, the Native American Initiative director reached out requesting that we plan a College of Science tour for the high school students for two of the largest school districts in our state.
We took the students on lab tours to the greenhouse and herbarium on a similar tour we did with the Richfield Residential Hall students. We also gave a presentation to the students along with their advisors on our project and different examples on how synthetic biology can be used to better the community.
Many of the students came up to us after the presentation wondering how to get more involved with synthetic biology in the future and we were very excited to share more about it with them.
19 June 2024
The Western USA iGEM Conference was an event hosted by our team as a means for iGEMers across the world to present their work preceding the official iGEM conference. We felt that this would be an exciting way to encourage collaboration and to connect with the competition before the conference competition. Most of the conference was dedicated to receiving feedback and ideas on how to improve our own projects.
As mentioned above, the premise was simple as teams were given the chance to share their work and receive feedback on what they could improve upon; teams did exactly this. The entire event was conducted over video call.
The conference went well with all teams participating and arriving ready to share. They all offered and received actionable feedback for which they expressed gratitude and excitement. It was through this conference that we became acquainted with NYU Abu Dhabi, who we would later collaborate with in their own conference. We hosted a total of 10 teams from all over the world including, but not limited to: HBMU-Taihe, Reeform, iGEM Princeton 2024, NYU Abu Dhabi, and Ooasis.
15-16 August 2024
The BLOOM BioHackathon was an online competition held from August 15-16. Hosted in collaboration between us, NYUAD iGEM, iGEM, Guelph, and iGEM Gufrankfurtit we sought to engage high school teams in considering the process of synthetic biology with special attention to using synthetic biology in conservation and bioremediation efforts. This provided us the opportunity to host a workshop on a particular aspect of synthetic biology and network with other teams in an innovative learning environment.
Prior to the conference, our team attended planning meetings and helped organize different elements of the event. On the first day of the hackathon, one of our team members (Jonathan Kinross) held a genetic circuit workshop where he went through the process of designing a genetic construct to be used in synthetic biology. Throughout the workshop, he covered the basics of plasmids, Golden Gate cloning, and identifying a gene of interest. Jonathan also discussed the use of tools such as IDT, Benchling, and the NIH GeneBank to obtain genetic sequences, and for compiling complex genetic circuits digitally. Following the workshop, students in attendance had the chance to ask questions about specific aspects of the design process, how these skills could be implemented in the real world, and they received hands-on help with their own projects.
On the second day of the conference, we hosted a short meeting where we showcased our project's progress and answered questions from those in attendance. Among those that attended this meeting were representatives from the iGEM Guelph and iGEM GU-Frankfurt teams and we in turn attended their presentation session. We shared feedback on strengths and weaknesses and gave suggestions on further applications of their projects.
Participation in the BLOOM BioHackathon was an enriching experience as it facilitated collaboration with several other iGEM teams in a combined effort to engage with education internationally. It also reinforced the principles of genetic circuit design and inspired other applications for our projects.
18-19 September 2024
Club Rush is a semi-annual, 2-day event hosted by Utah Valley University where students can represent their formed clubs and invite peers to join. Hundreds of college students cycled in and out of the event throughout its duration. As a continuation of this year’s earlier club rush, we represented both BioHive and iGEM to gain both support and interest in synthetic biology and biotechnology.
We continued to represent UVU’s chapter of BioHive but also advertised our “Back 2 Y2K” fundraising event. We signed on many interested students to BioHive and continued to invite students to other planned events.
Club Rush, once again, acted as an easy introduction to both synthetic biology and the biotechnology program for the UVU student body. We had a lot of fun discussing and explaining both our work and BioHive to the attending students. It continued to be a fulfilling effort in spreading the word of Bloom Busters, especially when students that attended the Spring 2024 event came and asked about how far we have proceeded with the project.
20 September 2024
We decided to do one final fundraising event to help collect funds for our team. We had long desired to throw a big party in celebration of our shared love of science and music. Despite several hurdles we were finally able to coordinate a party as a part of the College of Science for one last blow-out bash.
We had a DJ playing throwback music from the early 2000’s along with games and prizes at a school venue. There were about 100 people in attendance. There were themed games related to our project including “Hungry Hungry Hippos” instead as “Hungry Hungry Chlamy.” We reserved a space for polaroid photo ops. We even had a screen projector set up with a Nintendo 64 game station set up for multi-player sessions. We also had a hosted table for a rousing game of “no-stakes” poker, led by a seasoned poker dealer.
Many of the students in attendance did not know much about our project or the algal blooms. We had many opportunities to share elevator pitches of our work as students in and as we participated in activities with them throughout the party. One student, who is not originally from Utah, and unfamiliar with the issues surrounding Utah Lake stated, “Oh, that’s why that lake looks nasty!”
30 September 2024
Brigham Young University (BYU), our neighboring college in Provo, Utah, established an iGEM team this year. We felt it was only appropriate to collaborate with the closest school to us, especially after we learned that their project was very compatible with ours: detection of over-fertilization via nitrate absorbing plants. We set up a meeting to discuss our work and hopefully learn from one another.
At BYU’s campus, members of the BYU and UVU iGEM teams met to discuss their projects in detail and discussed potential collaboration after the jamboree is over. We were able to bond over complications and difficulties regarding our projects but also help inspire each other due to the similar nature of our work. We offered support and suggestions on how to improve our products, both from a technical standpoint and from an administrative point of view. Most of the collaboration was regarding funding, future implementation, and teamwork.
The BYU project really complemented ours well in terms of dealing with nitrate pollution. Our project focused on wastewater while theirs focused on fertilizer runoff. We discussed the potential for a future collaborative effort that could capitalize on the need for various avenues of attack on the algal bloom issue. HABs are not only caused by wastewater but by sediment dispersion, fertilizer runoff, growing temperature, dust, and more. It is an endeavor that is not simply fixed by one methodology. One of their co-presidents, Chad Hyer, made a claim we most definitely agree with, “A big issue with fertilization is preventing over-fertilization. Fertilizing at the right amount would enable people to maintain their way of life and feed their families while also considering sustainability for the future.” The use of a nitrate-detecting promoter for their engineered transcriptional unit seemed a very clever and useful addition to future iterations of our Chlamy. We will be sure to keep open communication with the BYU iGEM team.
27 March 2024
The 2024 Bloom Busters brochure, designed by our team, was handed out at outreach, educational, and fundraising events we have participated in this year. Details include:
- Utah Lake and algal bloom statistics
- Project description
- QR code for donations
- QR codes to our social media
