Alexa Veliz ’24 has been awarded the 2024 SOC Grant

In a collaboration between the biochemistry and biology labs at Mount Holyoke College and several local libraries, Alexa Veliz ’24 is working to engage younger audiences in the sciences. Veliz was named a 2024 recipient of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Grant, which will fund her work.

“Doing research is hard, but communicating those findings can also be challenging, and [any unanswered questions] can easily be twisted into conspiracy theories,” said Veliz. “Seeing the huge problem with the lack of effective communication made me and my friend Helen Washington ’24 think about a project that would engage younger minds in breaking down these barriers.”

With Veliz’s project, elementary-age students will read and engage with science books. Each student will receive a “molecular passport,” and they will earn a stamp in their passport for each book they read. Each student who receives 10 stamps will be invited to the Molecular World Science Fair at Mount Holyoke College. The fair will feature work by Mount Holyoke College undergraduates and will include hands-on activities, such as a petri dish contest, lab scavenger hunt, science trivia competition and slime making. The fair will be tailored for a younger audience, with language that is easy to understand.

“We asked ourselves: how can we make science communication more accessible and fun? Following Elizabeth Page Greenawalt Professor of Chemistry Maria Gomez's steps in creating a chemistry passport, we wanted to expand the project into a molecular science fair involving more [Mount Holyoke College] labs,” said Veliz. “Because the life sciences are so complex, we wanted to create an interdepartmental project that could bring together different areas of research that encompass biology. Children are natural scientists who ask very interesting questions, so we wanted to use their sparks of curiosity to ignite a fire.”

The project and fair will serve more than one purpose. Scholars will learn about science while undergraduate students practice their science communication skills and learn to describe complex topics in simple language. Veliz is a BIPOC first-generation student and hopes the project will involve children from underrepresented populations in science.

“[For] children, it is fundamental to see diversity in higher education, an aspect that is essential now that college affirmative action programs have recently been overturned,” Veliz says. “The vision of this project is to create a nationwide network of colleges that host molecular science fairs, where children from underrepresented [populations] can get involved in science and see themselves represented in higher education. This, in turn, will create more empathetic undergraduate scientists who can present their research to younger audiences.”

Given the age of their project, Veliz and Washington were surprised at being named an award recipient.

“Helen and I were kind of shocked because our ASBMB chapter is new, and this is our first year. We are grateful to see that there are people who believe in this project and share our goals,” Veliz said.

The ASBMB grant will provide funding for necessary items for the fair, including snacks and equipment rentals, such as tables, microphones and speakers. According to Veliz, many people are working together to make this project possible, and there is plenty of work still to come.

“I just want to thank our wonderful board members, Helen Washington ’24, Nay Won Lett ’25, Akosua Frimpong ’25 and Phuong Vo ’25, because they are the heart of the project. Special thanks to Associate Professor of Biochemistry Katie Berry for being our mentor and the first person to believe in this student chapter. I invite everyone to follow our chapter on Instagram at @asbmbmhc.”