Beyond Boundaries: Education Without Silos
Pre-Conference Activities & Workshops
Date: Thursday, Nov. 19, 2026
Time: 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. PST
Location: Allen Institute, 615 Westlake Ave N., Seattle
Cost: Free to ¶¶ÒõÈÈÃÅCUE registrants. Opportunity limited to the first 30 ¶¶ÒõÈÈÃÅCUE attendees to sign up for the event.
Description:
Register for this activity during the ¶¶ÒõÈÈÃÅCUE registration process.
The mission of the Allen Institute is to accelerate science for a healthier world. We bring together multidisciplinary teams of researchers, engineers and technologists to answer some of biology’s biggest questions—revealing how the brain, immune system and cells work, what makes them healthy and what changes in disease.​ Our work is organized in large-scale research initiatives that generate foundational knowledge, datasets, models and tools. We share what we create openly so people around the world can build on our work, speed discovery and open new possibilities for human health.
In the education program, we aim to empower learners to shape the future with open science. Through our programs with educators, students, scientists and the public, we help lower barriers to entry for users of our open resources.
During this opportunity for ¶¶ÒõÈÈÃÅCUE attendees, participants will tour the Allen Institute and at least 1 lab, hear an overview of open science and educational resources for biology educators and have Q&A with Allen Institute staff over lunch.
Facilitators:
- Holly Basta, Ph.D., Rocky Mountain College.
- Melissa Haswell, Ph.D., Delta College.
Description:
What role can a storyline approach and rich instructional materials play in expanding students’ understanding of the immune system? In this workshop, participants will explore HHMI BioInteractive’s engaging immune system activities, including an illustrated story of smallpox, to introduce the cells of the immune system. Using the Immune System Interactive and case studies, pedagogical strategies, such as scaffolding, will be highlighted to support and assess students' conceptual connections between innate and adaptive responses. The workshop will culminate in a guided discussion on how to incorporate this storyline into their own classes. Participants should have a laptop to participate fully in the workshop.
This workshop is sponsored by HHMI BioInteractive.
Target Audience:
Undergraduate educators who teach immunology at any level.
Attendee Learning Outcomes:
Participants will:
- Engage in HHMI BioInteractive’s smallpox and the immune system activities, in an illustrated story that will be used as a phenomenon to introduce cells of the immune system.
- Explore the Immune System Interactive and identify scaffolding strategies that help guide students from learning about immune cells and molecules to understanding how innate and adaptive responses work together.
- Apply immune system concepts to immunology case studies.
- Reflect on and discuss how these resources might be implemented in an attendee’s courses.
Pre-Requisites:
No pre-requisites. Participants are encouraged to create a free educator account at the before attending the workshop.
Description:
Conventional PCR, real-time or quantitative PCR (qPCR) and droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) are essential nucleic acid amplification techniques distinguished by their quantitative precision and sensitivity. Conventional PCR enables endpoint detection, qPCR provides real-time quantitative analysis and ddPCR allows absolute quantification. Together, they support accurate and reproducible analysis in applications such as gene expression, pathogen detection and molecular diagnostics.
This workshop is designed for educators seeking to enhance their understanding and teaching of PCR technologies. Participants will gain practical experience, explore their applications in undergraduate research and teaching and learn strategies for integrating these methods into their curricula. The session is designed to support participants of all experience levels, from those beginning their PCR journey to those exploring advanced applications. Participants will leave with increased confidence in teaching and applying PCR technologies, practical skills for laboratory instruction.
This workshop is sponsored by Bio-Rad.
Target Audience:
College and university faculty in biology, molecular biology and microbiology, including educators involved in undergraduate research programs or curriculum development.
Attendee Learning Outcomes:
- Compare PCR, qPCR and ddPCR—what they are and when to use them.
- Apply techniques to real-world cases like gene expression and pathogen detection.
- Get hands-on with qPCR tools and data analysis.
- Discover resources for teaching and student skill-building.
- Explore kits and software to simplify classroom and research workflows.
Pre-Requisites:
No pre-requisites.
Facilitators:
- Ellen Dow, Ph.D., KBase—Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
Description:
If you are interested in incorporating bioinformatics or data science concepts into a course, or working with students on data that are immediately publishable, then this workshop is for you! This workshop focuses on collecting and analyzing environmental microbial data and metadata in the free, open source platform, following a workflow that results in a publishable (meta)genomic dataset for an ¶¶ÒõÈÈÃÅ Microbiology Resource Announcement.
This workshop will provide examples of how educators use National Microbiome Data Collaborative (NMDC) and KBase resources with their students, in a variety of courses ranging from CUREs to independent research. Together, we will go through steps to analyze a genomic dataset and identify the importance of collecting and processing good sample metadata along the way. Participants will be introduced to resources for collecting environmental sample metadata through (NSF #2418285) and , which provide teaching materials and template workflows to analyze raw sequence data and prepare students for their first data publication. Everyone will have access to these tools and resources after the workshop to use with their students and adapt for future use!
This workshop is sponsored by KBase.
Target Audience:
Relevant for educators who want to integrate environmental microbiome (microbiology) research into their courses, including best practices for sample collection, (new, more) tools in computational biology and data analysis, support for student-curated data publications or change up existing course-based undergraduate research experiences.
Pre-Requisites:
Currently teaching or planning to teach courses and/or independent student research that includes computational biology, bioinformatics and microbiome-related science. A basic understanding of genome assembly and annotation will also be helpful.
New This year!
Saturday’s track-based programming will be curated by the ¶¶ÒõÈÈÃÅCUE Planning Committee and include a mix of content formats: expert-led plenary, mini-workshops to develop skill, ideation short talks and roundtable discussions. Attendees will pick a single topic and track for each time slot. After attending the track, attendees have the opportunity to claim a microcredential, which signifies a deeper understanding of a topic important to today’s educators.
Track topics include the following (more will be added when the full schedule is published):
- Updating your biology classes to meet the challenges and opportunities of artificial intelligence.
- New approaches toward STEM workforce development in biotechnology.
- Publishing your education scholarship, led by editors and staff at Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education.
- Biology leadership academy for mid-career educators: developing skills and expertise to lead departments and institutions.
- Design new high-impact practices to recruit, retain and prepare students to use their training to solve real-world problems.
Ben Wiggins, Ph.D.
Shoreline College
Ben Wiggins has taught and researched in science classrooms at every level, every size, and in teaching roles around the world. For the past 15 years, much of that focus has been on building assessments that authentically bring students into the practice of science skills. You'll find him between A&P labs at Shoreline College and coaching athletes or young science Ph.D.s to be great teachers in their own careers. His research is funded by the NSF ITYC program, focusing on bringing evidence-based methods to 2-year colleges around the country. His M.S. is in molecular & cellular biology. He has a Ph.D. in science education, and he believes that a great exam question can change a student and change the world.
Ann Stevens, Ph.D.
Professor, Virginia Tech
Ann Stevens, Ph.D., is a professor and associate department head for teaching and learning in the Department of Biological Sciences at Virginia Tech and the 2026 ¶¶ÒõÈÈÃÅ Carski Awardee. A native of Hamburg, New York, Stevens received her B.S. in microbiology from Iowa State University and her M.S. and Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in Abigail Salyers’ laboratory. After completing postdoctoral research in E. Peter Greenberg’s laboratory, she moved into a faculty position at Virginia Tech in 1997. Her honors include an NSF CAREER award and receipt of the Virginia Tech Alumni and Wine teaching awards.
Stevens has taught thousands of students in the classroom, primarily in the field of microbiology. Working with others, she led efforts to create an undergraduate microbiology degree at Virginia Tech in 2015, the only microbiology B.S. degree offered in the state. Stevens’ teaching efforts extend into her research laboratory, where, in collaboration with 29 graduate students, over 55 undergraduate research students have been mentored. Students have worked on a variety of projects focused on quorum-sensing and host-microbe interactions with funding from the NIH, NSF, USDA and other public and private partners.
As the advisor to the ¶¶ÒõÈÈÃÅ student chapter Virginia Tech Microbiology Club, Stevens facilitates opportunities for the members to perform community K-12 educational outreach. On the ¶¶ÒõÈÈÃÅ Committee on Undergraduate Education, she contributed to projects such as the Microbiology Concept Inventory. Stevens has also partnered with colleagues to give teaching-relevant presentations and workshops, publish SoTL research and write an ¶¶ÒõÈÈÃÅ Press undergraduate microbial physiology textbook.