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Photos courtesy of BioBus and NYCEDC
halls, recorded science challenges for
students to practice hands-on experiments
at home and Discover at Home
classes for school groups.
In the last few years, BioBus brought
one of its mobile labs to the Astoria
Houses and other western Queens
neighborhoods, where they’ve offered
public events, classes for school groups
and after-school activities.
Queens native Nicholas Bustamante
is a junior scientist at BioBus who’s currently
pursuing an engineering degree
at Binghamton University. Bustamante
spoke about interning at the BioBus program
after his school counselor at Bayside’s
Benjamin N. Cardozo High School
provided him with their information.
“I never expected science to be as
engaging as BioBus made it to be,” said
Bustamante. “When you’re a high school
student, even through college, I thought
my experience would change. Science
is very linear when it comes to college —
there’s not much room to improve, you
learn the basics, but you don’t really get
to explore why things are the way they
are — but through BioBus, it really helps
you understand the topic and really fall
in love with how microscopes work and
how the science behind how everything
really functions in our lives.”
He said that access to a program like
BioBus in someone’s own neighborhood
can make all the difference, and
“gives them no excuse to not chase
their dreams.”
Constantinides and the community
leaders are hopeful this will encourage
young people in underserved communities
to pursue a career in the science
field.
“Last summer, we had the BioBus
parked out in front of the Astoria Houses.
Kids came into the bus and got to
see some of the ecosystems in the East
River in Hallets Cove, and it was amazing
to see that wonder on their faces,
the curiosity about the natural world,
their desire to learn more,” said Constantinides.
“That’s the spark that this is
all about — creating that spark, that love
of science. Because we don't always
know what we want to be when we
grow up. I’m still trying to figure it out
at 45. And for young people, it’s giving
them that possibility to say, ‘Oh, I want
to do that. That looks fascinating. I want
to learn more. Maybe that’s what I’m going
to do with my life.'”
/BOROMAG.COM
