Content Developer Biologist and a bit of this and that
Hello! I’m Dr. Teisha Rowland, primarily a cancer and stem cell biologist, but I enjoy learning about all areas of science. I’ve had the opportunity to create numerous hands-on projects here at Science Buddies to help students explore high-tech areas like genomics, stem cells, and biochemistry with little more than an internet connection and everyday household items. I also spearheaded Science Buddies’ partnership with Scientific American authoring DIY science activities for the Bring Science Home initiative.
How did I get here? I have an undergraduate degree in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology (MCDB) and Humanities (in history and English; I enjoy writing!) from the University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder). I went on to get my Ph.D. in MCDB from the University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB), where I studied how pluripotent stem cells could be turned into retinal cells to treat a common cause of blindness, age-related macular degeneration. As a graduate student, I also had a weekly biology column with the local newspaper, and later published the articles as two books, Biology Bytes: Digestible Essays on Stem Cells and Modern Medicine and Biology Bytes: Digestible Essays on Animals Both Commonplace and Bizarre. I’m passionate about science communication and science education.
After receiving my PhD, I completed two postdoctoral research positions, which included studying genetic heart muscle diseases and epigenetics of cancer cell immortalization with a Nobel Laureate. I then became the founding director of a stem cell research center at CU Boulder, a Principal Scientist at a biopharma startup (developing cancer immunotherapies), and finally a cell and gene therapy product reviewer.
Overall, I’m a biologist, writer, and geek. I live in Colorado and when I’m not doing science on the clock, I enjoy looking for bugs, promoting sustainability, playing video games, writing music, taking care of unusual pets, gardening, writing science fiction and fantasy, spending time with my wonderful family, and overall trying to make the world a better place.
Have you ever walked by an ocean, lake, or river and seen plastic trash? Have you ever wondered how microplastics might be impacting the creatures living in these places? In this science project, you will investigate how yeast can be used in bioremediation to remove microplastics from contaminated water.
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Do you get excited about 3D printing technology? Do you like to think about other applications for this technology? 3D printing techniques can also be used with living cells, a method called 3D bioprinting. In this science project, you will explore 3D bioprinting a gelatinous substance with plant seeds. This process is similar to real 3D bioprinting techniques being explored to create tissues and organs.
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Measles is one of the most contagious viruses in the world, but there are differences in how the virus can spread within communities. Some communities may be able to prevent the disease from spreading, whereas others could experience a rapidly spreading, overwhelming outbreak. How does immunity and vaccination in a population of people affect how measles spreads? To answer this, this science project can be completed using the Measles: Defeating a Debilitating Virus Notebook with…
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Have you ever wondered what life might look like on other planets? Life might need to survive conditions that would seem very extreme to us. Such conditions likely exist on planets that orbit abundant red dwarf stars. These planets can undergo tidal locking, which means one side is a perpetual, freezing night and the other is a perpetual, scorching day! How does life stand a chance? In this science project, you will test what extreme temperatures microscopic life can survive to model some of…
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Have you ever wondered how life began on Earth? Or how life could get started on other planets? To help us better understand how life began, many scientists try to figure out what it would have been like to live on early Earth. In this science project, you will try to grow microscopic life that could have survived some of the harsh conditions of early Earth!
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Picture your favorite treats: chocolate fudge cake, vanilla ice cream, pink lemonade… Yum! Can you imagine what these might taste like without the sweet flavor of sugar? Your sweet tooth might be aching without the chemical compound of sucrose that is so appealing. Much of the food we eat contains sucrose or natural sweeteners such as honey. There are of course other sweetening options. Have you ever seen "zero-calorie and sugar-free lemonade" at the store and wondered how it…
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Have you ever taken a step onto what appeared to be dry ground, only to find yourself ankle deep in mud? Yikes! When you walk through damp soil, it can be a very messy experience. How can you tell if soil is wet or dry before you step on it? In this science activity you will investigate whether the color of soil can help you determine how dry or wet it is.
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Have you ever wondered what makes you notice a certain person or object when you're rushing along in a crowd? Why do some things stand out whereas others melt into the background? In this activity you can explore the psychology of how things get noticed by studying how our brains help us perform a visual search. Specifically, you'll look at how changing the number and type of visual distractions affects a person's ability to find what they're looking for.
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Have you ever noticed that some people are a lot pickier about the food they eat than other people are? They might be more selective because they are supertasters! To supertasters, the flavors of foods are much stronger than to average tasters. Whether or not someone is a supertaster comes down to the taste buds on his or her tongue, and you can actually investigate a person's supertaster status by looking at this. Are you a supertaster? Find out with this tongue-based activity!
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Have you ever wondered how yogurt is made, and why some yogurts differ from others? As most yogurt containers advertise, yogurt contains "live cultures." This means that there are living bacteria in the yogurt! These are not the harmful kind of microbes that cause you to get sick. Instead, these cultures have the amazing ability to turn plain old milk into a yummy yogurt treat. Do the bacteria affect what the resultant yogurt culture looks, feels, tastes and smells like? In this…
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