The Biotechnology Outreach Program for the Public
A Joint Program of the UW Biotechnology Center and UW-Extension
The mission of the program is to provide information, insight and analysis of technical and social issues of biotechnology to people in Wisconsin, to help enable them to make personal choices and public policies regarding biotechnology.

Photos of BioTrek programs:

 

outreach/Action/edgerton.html

outreach/Action/collegeaccess.html

outreach/Action/biopulping.html

outreach/eaglewebphotos/

outreach/fpdshow/

outreach/fsnsnaps

Activities

Our target audiences are amplifier audiences: Extension county faculty, teachers, reporters, members of the biotechnology community and any interested persons.
The program achieves its mission by:
  • giving tours
  • providing workshops
  • producing materials
  • building the science outreach community
We provide Tours and Workshops of the Biotechnology Center at UW-Madison.
  • The Outreach Invention Space, a 1000 sq. ft laboratory dedicated to the development of kits and materials useful to youth and adults in 4-H and in schools.
  • The Outreach Teaching Lab, a second 1000 sq. ft. laboratory, adjacent to the Invention Space, used for workshops serving school groups, 4-H youth and adults, students, and other audiences.
  • Conference rooms and a 125-seat auditorium for outreach and Extension programming, including the Wednesday Nite @ The Lab series
These resources enable BioTrek to develop, test and deliver new programs, materials and services.
We provide workshops anywhere in Wisconsin, including the Teaching Lab at the Biotechnology Center/Genetics Building at UW-Madison. The workshops emphasize the powers and limits of learning by experimentation. We feature the science of food biotechnology in our workshops because food is familiar, accessible, inexpensive, and safe.
We produce materials for learning about biotechnology. These include teaching analogies, color posters, self-directed guides, handouts, and protocols for experiments. Examples include "DNA as Videotape," "Biotechnology: Tools for Genetic Ingenuity," (to view the poster contents in web format click here), "Biotechnology & Food: Leader and Participant Guide," and "ImProv Electrophoresis."
We help build the science outreach community at UW-Madison by convening the Science Alliance @ UW-Madison, by organzing Science Expeditions, and by maintaining science.wisc.edu.
The program includes Tom Zinnen and Cheryl Redman, of UWBC.
Cheryl Redman provides tours and workshops, develops teaching kits, and maintains the business records of the Biotechnology Outreach Program.
The program was mandated by the 1990 BGH Moratorium, which directed the University of Wisconsin to establish a public Outreach program in biotechnology.