EPIC Project Lab - CDC Museum

Project Faculty: Jessica Lee Joyner, PhD (GSU Department of Biology); Nicola Sharratt, PhD (GSU Department of Anthropology); Brennan Collins, PhD (GSU Department of English); Spencer Roberts, PhD (Emory Pitts Theology Library)

Museum Curators: Heather Rodriguez (Assistant Curator), Louise Shaw (Curator), Judy Gantt (Director)

An interdisciplinary collaboration between Georgia State University, Emory University, and the David J Sencer CDC Museum.

The goal is to enhance how the public interacts with the content through supplementary material. Students will practice career skills and STEM literacy through navigating digital resources, researching topic relevance for peer groups, and communicating scientific and historical information to the public.

Student Engagement

EPIC and Biology students join as a perspectives course that focuses on global and cultural issues. Their primary role is to create material to facilitate science communication to a public and grade-school audience.

Museum Exhibits

Physical exhibits about Ebola and Influenza were transferred into an online space for long-term public engagement

Ebola Virtual Exhibit

Homepage

First-person Perspective Virtual Tour

A look at the history of Ebola in West Africa, 2014-2016, and how CDC, global partners, governments, organizations, and individuals came together to stop an epidemic.

Influenza Virtual Exhibit

Homepage

First-person Perspective Virtual Tour

An exploration into the social and scientific history of the influenza viruses, framed by the work of CDC.

Story Maps

Pathways

Ebola comes to the US

Responsive Engagement With Communities

Resources

Lesson Plans

Learning Goals

Students will learn the history and present influence of viral disease (Influenza) on human populations
Students will recognize the global impact and response to outbreaks
Students will develop written and verbal communication skills.

The society learning goals are:

Science as a Process - Communicating Results, Asking Questions, Formulating hypotheses
American Society for Microbiology (ASM):
1. How do humans impact on the environment influence the evolution of microorganisms (e.g., emerging diseases and the selection of antibiotic resistance)?
2. How are replication cycles of viruses (lytic and lysogenic) different among viruses and how are they determined by their unique structures and genomes?
3. How is the synthesis of viral genetic material and proteins dependent on host cells?
4. How do microorganisms, cellular and viral, interact with both human and non-human hosts in beneficial, neutral, or detrimental ways?

Learning Objectives

Students will develop communication skills through example and practice presenting viral concepts that influence outbreak progression.
Students will interact with a public, historical science exhibit.
Students will be able to explain characteristics of a virus.
Students will compare levels of outbreak severity through time.
Students will explain how practices and communication have improved through various disease outbreaks.

Audio Stories

Eileen - Mask Mandates

James - Viral Dynamics

TJ - Vigilance and Communication

Curator Conversation

Influenza Curator

Public Outreach

Social Media Posts

Digital Virus Model

Pink digital rendering of influenza virus

Project Lab Demographics

Started in Spring of 2021 with the inaugural Project Lab in Fall of 2021
External Collaborations: associated with a public facing non-profit that represents a government organization, the David J Sencer CDC Museum and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as well as Emory University
Interdisciplinary group of faculty and students (i.e., Biology, Anthropology, Computer Science, Education, Nursing, Communications, Economics, ...)
38 EPIC Undergraduates participating to date
- Additional Biology undergraduates completing a Science Communication Internships
6 Graduate students supported through Anthropology and Biology

Biology