Outreach activities are integral to IISAGE’s mission to engage communities with our research while focusing on integrating scientific fields. Our outreach division focuses on two areas: 1) Maximizing the impact of IISAGE scientific achievements and training programs; and 2) Integrating the community into IISAGE scientific efforts through citizen science targeted at pet hobbyists, after-school programs, and museum visitors.
The SNAP: Sex aNd Aging Project
SNAP (Sex aNd Aging Project) is a community science effort that aims to connect pet hobbyists with IISAGE scientists to build a comprehensive database including life history data from pet fish, amphibians, and reptiles.
Our Zooniverse site is where you can join our collaboration. By creating a Zooniverse account, you can enter your pet information and then email us a photo of your pet and help grow our knowledge of fish, amphibians, and reptiles.
Please visit our Zooniverse website for more information about joining our project!
News
IISAGE members attend the North American Reptile Breeders in Tinley, Illinois from March 15-17, 2024.
Thursday, May 2nd, 2024
Members from Dr. Tony Gamble’s lab at Marquette University hosted a booth on behalf of IISAGE at the North American Reptile Breeders conference in March. Our scientists were able to engage conference-goers with our ongoing research on the mechanisms that govern sex-specific aging in reptiles. In addition, Dr. Gamble and his team spent time interacting with these reptile hobbyists and engaging them with our Sex and Aging Project (SNAP).
IISAGE Post-doc Educates Grade Students on Sex Differences in Aging Through Skype A Scientist
Thursday, January 25th, 2024
Post-doctoral researcher Dr. Jamie Marks-Solomonow, PhD hosted a Skype a Scientist session this past Wednesday educating kindergarten students about her IISAGE research. Skype a Scientist is a non-profit educational organization that allows scientists to Zoom into classrooms to discuss research with students. “It was a kindergarten class in Canada, and I talked about the variety of reptiles that I work with and that we study how they age which is why we weigh and measure them” she stated, “I also talked about how we study their blood. I showed pictures of these methods and asked the kids what else I should study to understand the animals. Because they were so young, I kept it very surface-level, but I think they enjoyed learning about what biologists do!”. Jamie’s session will be available to watch on the Skype a Scientist Youtube channel here!
IISAGE members attend the Chicago Reptile Show in Tinley, Illinois from October 7-8, 2023.
Tuesday, October 10th, 2023
The Chicago Reptile show is an annual conference that spans four cities: Tinley Park Illinois, Dallas Texas, St. Charles Missouri, and Schaumburg Illinois. Many of the world’s top reptile breeders attend these shows, inviting the general public and breeders alike to meet them up close and personal. Our IISAGE community members from Dr. Tony Gamble’s lab had the opportunity to connect with these reptile hobbyists and engage them with SNAP (Sex and Aging Project).
