The convergence of scientific disciplines at the quantum and molecular scales creates fertile terrain for a new model of interdisciplinary education. Nowhere is such a model more appropriate than in the environmental arena where discovery and problem-solving draw on principles from multiple disciplines including biology, chemistry, physics, and information science.
CEINT research is organized as team-based, interdisciplinary efforts that expand the academic community of participating students to include the faculty, facilities, and student colleagues at all the participating universities.
Key elements of our educational program for university students include:
CEINT educational outreach includes innovative curricula development G9-12, leveraging “Nano2Earth”, a program developed by Co-PI Hochella and colleagues at Virginia Tech, that uses nanoscience as a vehicle to transform curricula into an interdisciplinary approach to molecular biology, geochemistry, physics, chemistry, mathematics and ecology and encourages pre-college students to pursue studies in science and engineering.
CEINT is collaborating with the N.C. Museum of Life and Science (MLS) in Durham, NC on educational initiatives to increase public understanding of nano-scale science as well as to enhance public awareness of the importance of risk assessment for responsible development of nano-materials. Our partnership with MLS is leveraging NCMLS’s activities in the Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network (NISE Net) program with the goal of creating educational materials and activities on environmental implications of nanotechnology.
