- Owen J. Roberts High School
- Meet the Teacher

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Mrs. Laura George
My interest in science stems from my childhood. I grew
up surrounded by state and national parks. I spent the majority of my
free time playing outside. During summer breaks from school I frequented
the beach. I fell in love with the ocean and vowed that one day I would
study the Great Barrier Reef. Eventually I did, but I'll get to that part
in a little while.
After graduating from Owen J. Roberts, I went to Cedar Crest College to pursue a
degree in Genetic Engineering and a minor in Chemistry. Both have served
me well. I moved to North Carolina where I worked for a biotechnology
company cloning human ion channel genes for use in drug discovery. I
learned a lot about DNA, cloning, and myself in that job. I knew I wasn't
exactly where I wanted to be and I hadn't met all of my goals.
I really
wanted to study the Great Barrier Reef so I joined a team of scientists at the
University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia. I spent my 25th birthday
at Heron Island Research station on the southern part of the Great Barrier Reef
extracting DNA and RNA from marine sponges. I officially met my childhood
goal. It was an amazing experience.
Generally in life
when we achieve one goal we are put on a path to another. At the
University of Queensland I found myself teaching undergraduate chemistry
laboratories three times a week. I was also contracted by the Queensland
Museum and Astra Zenica to teach a few teams of their chemists how to perform
cloning experiments. I designed and ran my own cloning classes. I
also tutored students at the Australian College of Natural Medicine.
When I
returned to the United States three and a half years later, I took a job with
the Dolan DNA Learning Center in Cold Spring Harbor, New York. I taught
molecular biology to high school students during the school year. In the
summer I teamed up with John Jay College of Criminal Justice to assist with
Forensic Science Summer Camps.
I currently hold a Master's in Education and am certified
to teach Biology, General Sciences, and Agriculture. As I continue to
travel on the path education has set before me, I am certain I will grow.
Science has taken me around the world and back. Where will it take you?