Evergreen awarded $15,000 from M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust’s Partners in Science program

The Evergreen State College was recently awarded $15,000 from M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust’s Partners in Science (Partners) program. The grant will give a local high school teacher at Tumwater High School the opportunity to engage in research with an outstanding mentor at Evergreen.

“The importance of the collaboration between Evergreen and high schools in our local community is essential. This grant, and the Partners program as a whole, equips science teachers with the research experience to implement better practices in their own classrooms,” said Evergreen President George Bridges.

The grant was awarded to Erik Thuesen, a faculty member who teaches biological science at Evergreen, and Josiah Price, teacher at Tumwater High School, to research biochemical adaptations of comb jellies (Ctenophora) to life in the deep sea.

"It will be great to have Josiah working with me and my students on our Diversity, Evolution and Ecophysiology of Ctenophores project (DEEPC),” said Thuesen. “Josiah’s work will contribute to our understanding of the genetic basis for functional adaptations to high pressure in the deep sea.”

“This collaboration will also broaden the horizons of the students in my lab as they ponder their career options after graduation and provide me with some insight into our future students coming right out of high school," Thuesen continued.

2018 marks the 28th year of M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust’s participation in Partners and more than 500 teachers have been awarded this grant throughout the Trust’s five-state funding region. As a part of the program, the Trust hosts an annual national conference where teachers present their research results, hear presentations from renowned researchers, and network with other teachers and researchers from across the United States.

“Our goal is to improve science education and encourage best practices of teaching to be more inquiry focused,” said Steve Moore, executive director of the Murdock Charitable Trust. “We are honored to be involved with such a vital program at Evergreen that supports student learning at Tumwater High School.”

For more information on the Partners in Science program or how to apply for grants, go to murdocktrust.org.