Ellis has partnered with EvolvingSTEM since the organization was formed at Pitt about seven years ago. The program implements evolutionary microbiology experimentation in high school biology labs throughout the United States. Using bacteria as a model, students can see how populations evolve under controlled conditions.

“It originally started as a way to teach students about evolution and to see evolution actually happening,” said Upper School Biology Teacher Kassandra Wadsworth. “Most times when you're studying evolution, the scale of time is difficult to comprehend because we’re talking about millions of years. But we can see bacterial evolution happen over about a week.”

Ellis students were working on the experiment earlier this year with help from Ellis alumna Sarah Ali ’23, who worked intensely with EvolvingSTEM for her senior project at Ellis and is still involved with the program as a Pitt student. For Sarah’s senior project, Providing Evolutionary Biology Research Experiences in High Schools with EvolvingSTEM, she worked with the University of Pittsburgh Medical School in the Microbiology and Molecular Genetics Lab, where she assisted Dr. Abigail Matela, the EvolvingSTEM Director of Educational Outreach and Research. Sarah conducted experiments such as a DNA extraction, counted bacterial colonies, poured agar plates, and cleaned lab equipment, among other tasks in Dr. Matela’s lab.

“The experiment we’re doing [at Ellis] was designed by the research lab I’m working in right now, which I got involved in through my senior project at Ellis,” Sarah said during her visit to Ms. Wadsworth’s class. “This experiment gives [students] a real-world view of how evolution unfolds in nature. A lot of times when we talk about evolution, it’s more theoretical and about things that happened thousands of years ago, but we can see evolution happen in the span of a week just through bacteria and how those populations change.”

When Sarah visited Ellis’ biology class, she helped students with a natural selection experiment in which they were selecting bacteria that produced biofilms. The process has significant real-world relevance; a lot of antibiotic resistant bacteria form biofilms, and understanding that process can help scientists understand how to improve medicine. The experiment also had students engaging with various microbiology techniques such as serial dilution, plating bacteria, and passaging cultures.

"Over the course of a week, we can select for individuals that are better at surviving and reproducing,” Ms. Wadsworth said. “When we look at our plates at the end, we can see how our population has changed over time, which is really cool.”

Beyond improving students’ understanding of the content, the broader impact of the program has been the sense of identity and belonging it provides to students, particularly women and students of color. "Their organization wants students to feel like scientists and feel like they belong in that field," Ms. Wadsworth said.

Ms. Wadsworth said the partnership also aligns with her philosophy of teaching science. She wants the students to have "an authentic experience," showing them how real science works, including data collection and analysis.

"Bringing in organizations that are authentically collecting and analyzing data is really meaningful,” she said. “The students can see what someone does in the field and see themselves there doing the work. They can see what a job in science could look like for them.”