Increased science literacy a worthy goal for the Northwest

Fifty years ago this summer, spectators of all ages and walks of life stood on the shores of Lake Washington for the 1955 Seafair hydroplane races. They had little preparation for what was about to transpire.

Interspersed in the crowd were "insiders" -- veteran pilots from the century's world wars and members of the region's growing aeronautical industry. They had come to witness aviation history, the maiden voyage of the prototype Dash-80 (precursor to the Boeing 707). They had the technical and scientific literacy to predict that this vessel could alter transcontinental travel. They did, however, lack the prophetic power to know that on that day Capt. "Tex" Johnston would help kick-start the era of the modern commercial jet by barrel-rolling the 160,000-pound plane over the Evergreen Point Bridge.

By the time Johnston broke the transcontinental speed record in 1957, flying from Seattle to Baltimore in less than four hours, Boeing had secured global dominance of the aeronautical industry. It would maintain this vaulted position for the duration of the century -- resulting in thousands of local businesses, employing millions of community members and providing tangible new career paths for curious youths.

Our region again stands at the shores of economic and intellectual promise. Our universities, non-profit institutes, health care and biotech industries enjoy international recognition for their impressive efforts to improve lives around the world -- from providing relief from malaria in Africa to the discovery of novel diagnostics and therapeutics in the United States. To further those successes, collaborations of civic, scientific and business leaders, such as the Prosperity Partnership, have begun the strategic planning to bring funding and facility challenges into focus. Although we don't know how the future will unfold, we do believe that by coordinating investments, building community support and engaging the next generation of scientists, the Puget Sound region will achieve the 36 percent biotech industry increase, predicted by the Milken Institute, over the next decade.

Initiatives linked to increasing science literacy celebrated an early milestone in June when nearly 100 members of the local science education outreach community gathered to discuss common challenges and goals facing our diverse programs and clients. Hosted by Amgen, summit organizers crafted the Life Sciences Education Advancement Partnership (LEAP) summit objectives to include: increasing awareness of regional science outreach programs; finding ways to foster collaborations between programs, educators and industry for mutual benefit; and generating a resource guide to inform teachers, students, funders and the general public of our region's rich life sciences outreach community.

The summit was an unmitigated success. Attendees quickly envisioned novel alliances for mutual benefit. When LEAP reconvenes in 2006, with seed money from Seattle King County Workforce Development Council, teachers, districts and businesses will be invited to take in the breadth and variety of science outreach programs in the region -- facilitating our goal of increasing awareness and participation.

We cannot be mere spectators at the shores of this promising new era. As we head into the next academic year, LEAP members will be actively reaching out to diverse audiences and prospective new members, encouraging their own "barrel rolls" to augment science literacy. Supporting science instruction has far-reaching rewards, beyond the biotechnology industry, and, most notably, unlocks the passion and curiosity held within our community. Join us in delivering the promise.

Theresa Britschgi directs BioQuest, the science education program at Seattle Biomedical Research Institute. Jeanne Chowning is the education manager of the Northwest Association for Biomedical Research. This year they served as volunteer consultants for the Life Sciences Cluster Education and Training team of the Prosperity Partnership (www.prosperitypartnership.org).

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