The Biological Sciences School recently hosted a regional Association of Biology Laboratory Education (ABLE) meeting. The mission of ABLE is to disseminate novel laboratory modules, to improve biology education internationally. This one-day event was organized and hosted by a number of teaching faculty in the school, including Professors Brian Sato (MBB), Pavan Kadandale (MBB), Justin Shaffer (DCB), Debra Mauzy-Melitz (DCB), Nancy Aguilar-Roca (EEB), and Andrea Nicholas (NBB).

Over 60 attendees from California, Nevada, Oregon, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Texas, Hawaii and Canada took part in the day’s events, beginning with a keynote address from HHMI Professor Susan Wessler of UC Riverside Professor Wessler described the exciting changes currently being implemented at UCR regarding an inquiry-based introductory laboratory course. Throughout the day, attendees had the opportunity to take part in a dozen hands-on workshops featuring laboratory modules from all biology disciplines ranging from ecology to molecular biology. This meeting was sponsored in part through generous donations from the four departments with the School. Through events such as these, the Biological Sciences School is able to highlight the strong emphasis that we place on undergraduate education.

For more information on the event, along with slides and handouts from the workshops, please go to: http://www.ableweb.org/conf/rable2015/