Interested science outreach or science education? Want to make science accessible to a broader public? Wondering how you can build an international scientific network? 

 Join us for an iBiology Live Q&A on developing scientific networks to improve education with Daniel Colón-Ramos and Giovanna Guerrero-Medina, moderated by Sofia Espinoza Sanchez. 

When? 
Friday, June 6th, 2014 at 6:30 PM EDT, 3:30 PM PDT.

Where? 

Online, using Google Hangouts on Air: http://bit.ly/1k6d1mZ
Submit your questions during the hangout, or email them to us at iBiology@ascb.org. 

Why?

Growing up in Puerto Rico, most of the science Dr. Colón-Ramos learned in school did not feel relevant to his life; an experience shared by many other Puerto Rican scientists. So, Dr. Colón-Ramos, together with a group of collaborators, founded Ciencia Puerto Rico (http://www.cienciapr.org/en) allowing geographically dispersed Puerto Rican scientists to communicate, mentor, educate and promote scientific research in Puerto Rico. 

In this hangout, Dr. Colón-Ramos, Associate Professor of Cell Biology at the Yale School of Medicine, and Dr. Giovanna Guerrero-Medina, Executive Director of CienciaPR will discuss their experience developing  a scientific network like CienciaPR to address important issues in science and science education.

Who?

Daniel Colón-Ramos is an Associate Professor of Cell Biology at the Yale School of Medicine.  His lab uses C. elegans to study how the brain forms precise neural connections during development. Dr. Colón-Ramos was born and raised in Puerto Rico and is a co-founder of Ciencia Puerto Rico (http://www.cienciapr.org/en), a non-profit organization that connects Puerto Rican scientists who are spread around the globe, to promote scientific research and education in Puerto Rico.

Giovanna Guerrero-Medina, Ph.D., is the Executive Director of CienciaPR and Associate Research Faculty at the Center for Scientific Teaching at Yale University. Prior to her work with CienciaPR, Dr. Guerrero-Medina was Head of Science Policy at the Van Andel Research Institute (VARI) in Grand Rapids, MI, and a health policy analyst at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Dr. Guerrero-Medina has a Ph.D. in Molecular and Cell Biology from the University of California, Berkeley and a Bachelor’s in Biology from the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras.

 Sofia Espinoza Sanchez is a graduate student at Yale University and the Co-Director of the Research Experience for Peruvian Undergraduates (REPU) program (www.repuprogram.com). She is also the iBioAmbassador for Peru, a role in which she helps connect iBiology to local researchers and science initiatives in her home country.