Meeting Abstract

P1.191  Saturday, Jan. 4 15:30  CrawFly: An Interactive Workshop Featuring Model Invertebrate Preparations in the Neuroscience Teaching Laboratory JOHNSON, B.*; COLGAN, W.; PULVER, S.R.; WYTTENBACH, R.; HOY, R.; Cornell Univ.; ADInstruments; Howard Hughes Medical Institute; Emory Univ.; Cornell Univ. brj1@cornell.edu

CrawFly is an international workshop for educators, sponsored by Cornell University and ADInstruments, offering instruction and review of genetics, ethology, neurophysiology, and data acquisition and analysis. Participants learn to adapt cutting-edge research techniques to undergraduate teaching. The 5-day workshop is divided into 2 complimentary approaches. First, exercises featured from the Crawdad program teach principles of cellular and synaptic physiology using extra- and intracellular recording techniques. Second, opto- and thermogenetic techniques are taught to remotely control behavior and neural circuits in transgenetic fruit flies. Strategies for minimizing costs and maximizing accessibility of the teaching preparations are discussed. Past participants include senior educators, lab coordinators, beginning faculty and post-docs. Evaluations of previous workshops demonstrate success in promoting new teaching at participants’ home institutions. Competitive tuition scholarships are available, especially for young investigators, women and underrepresented minorities. CrawFly and the scholarship program are part of an ongoing effort to build an international community dedicated to neuroscience laboratory teaching. Invertebrate model preparations offer diverse student exercises that provide insight into nervous system physiology and offer hands-on experience with live preparations as an effective way to learn and practice scientific methods and experimental design. CrawFly demonstrates how neuroscience laboratory teaching can be performed inexpensively, and without the constraints required with vertebrate preparations.