two students pose with a model skull.

Community Outreach

By Department of Biological Sciences
High school students at the 2017 Bioathlon

Our work in the community continues with the 28th annual Bioathlon, high school visits, HOSA regional competition, and summer youth programs.

28th Annual Bioathlon

The Bioathlon is our largest outreach event each year. Teams from 12 Upper Peninsula high schools participated in the day-long competition this year. The winning team was A.D. Johnston High School in Bessemer. Second place went to Marquette and third place to Calumet. All teams tackled these same four problems: dissection of a bull frog, microbe analysis, ecology field identification, and basic medical laboratory techniques.

Students dissecting a frog.
High school students at the 2017 Bioathlon dissecting a bull frog.

High School Visits

During the spring semester, local high school classes are invited to visit our campus. Visits include attending our anatomy and physiology lecture, hands-on activities with current college students, lunch at Wadsworth Hall, and meeting with our faculty to discuss careers. This past year, more than 150 high school students from six different schools were able to visit the campus.

Students stand around a medical bed watching two researchers collect data.
Ian Greenlund (middle, seated), an MS student in biology, and Hana Marti (right, seated), a BS student in biomedical engineering, demonstrate cardiovascular health research equipment to a group of high school students.

HOSA Regional Competition

This year we traveled to the regional Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA) Regional Competition at Marquette High School. Afterwards, we invited local HOSA students to come to our lab to learn more about opportunities in medical laboratory science.

Michigan Technological University is a public research university founded in 1885 in Houghton, Michigan, and is home to more than 7,000 students from 55 countries around the world. Consistently ranked among the best universities in the country for return on investment, Michigan’s flagship technological university offers more than 120 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in science and technology, engineering, computing, forestry, business and economics, health professions, humanities, mathematics, social sciences, and the arts. The rural campus is situated just miles from Lake Superior in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, offering year-round opportunities for outdoor adventure.

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