Newswise — Professor Carol Bender, Director of the Undergraduate Biology Research Program and Biomedical Research Abroad: Vistas Open Program, has been named a University Distinguished Outreach Professor at the University of Arizona (UA). Over the past 23 years, drawing on the UA research community, Professor Bender has been a catalyst developing high impact educational outreach experiences by creating programs that have national and international impact. Primary among these programs is the Undergraduate Biology Research Program (UBRP). UBRP teaches undergraduate students how science is done by involving them in research. Through her efforts, UBRP has grown to support 140 students a year who work with faculty mentors in 43 UA departments and off-campus research institutions in Tucson and Phoenix. Nearly 2,000 students have benefited directly from UBRP, supported in part by grants from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, the Beckman Foundation, and participating faculty mentors’ research grants. Recognizing that students need to understand their role in society, Professor Bender organizes activities to supplement their academic experience. An example of this is the annual UBRP ethics retreat. Here students have the opportunity to discuss issues of importance in the conduct of science and medicine and to consider the grand challenges that will call on the coordinated efforts of the next generation of scientists.
In 1992, Professor Bender developed the Biomedical Research Abroad: Vistas Open (BRAVO!) Program to give research-experienced undergraduates exposure to the international scientific community by enabling them to do research in other countries. Since its inception, more than 210 BRAVO! students have done research in 37 countries. These students proved that undergraduates can not only contribute to advancing knowledge, but they also are excellent scientific and cultural ambassadors.
Bender has had two Fulbright Fellowships, one to Japan and one to India. Following her experience in Japan in 1997, she founded the Arizona Chapter of the Fulbright Association, a state-wide organization dedicated to promoting international understanding. She served as chapter president for several years.
Outreach to precollege students is an important role for the University and Professor Bender has coordinated numerous programs through the UBRP Office that provide science experiences for Tucson area children. Programs for elementary students excited their interest in science in a variety of ways, from conducting their own experiments and making their own observations, to having them correspond with undergraduate researcher “pen pals.” More than 100 high school and community college students have participated in research on the UA campus through programs Bender organized.
Nancy Hensel, former Executive Officer of the Council on Undergraduate Research wrote, “Carol is committed to the mentoring of students, to stimulating enthusiasm for science education and science discovery and to providing experience in research for as many students as possible. It is her resourcefulness and ability to make connections within and beyond the University, I believe, that have made the programs at UA exemplary.”
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