BioBus is a lab on wheels. They use microscopes and other tools to help the many kids that they teach, learn more about science. They do a lot of science with microscopes so I’m suspecting they do a lot of biochemistry, probably geology too.
The BioBus goes to public schools mostly, and I think this is important because some schools don't have science labs, so the BioBus helps public school kids find out things that they may have otherwise not known. They might even discover something that nobody else knows, after all with a microscope you never know what you will find.
Kids are the future of science, so it’s important to teach them about the secrets of science. Usually, the lessons last 45 minutes. They also have programs like summer camp. Kids from 8-12 years old can enter this exciting program that helps the children invent gadgets to look at different organisms living in the Hudson River and neighborhood parks or gardens. They are an organization that needs money to do what it needs to do, so for them to continue educating New York City children properly, we need to help them with donations. Also, with donations, the million’s of students in New York that have not had a chance yet to do a hands-on science experiment, will be able to do one.
I had an interview with Ben in the BioBus. When I stepped into the bus, I saw microscopes in every direction, each showing a new wonderful mystery for young scientists to discover. On the floor of BioBus, I remember looking into a grand jungle of midnight black. As I looked at the walls, a sea of blue seemed to be swallowing me as I quickly headed to the bright green seat where I was to interview Ben. The seat was soft and as I sat down, and I got ready for the interview I thought, “I can’t wait to learn more about the BioBus and Ben!”
Federico: Did you like science when you were a kid?
Ben: Oh yeah, I loved science when I was a kid. I always liked science class at school and I always liked doing experiments. I remember when I was 4 years old I got a cookbook of science experiments, so that’s the earlier science experiments that I remember doing, making rock candy and that sort of thing.
Where did you go to school and what was your major?
For college? I moved to NYC for college and went to school at Columbia University, really close to where we are right now and my major was physics and math. That’s where I took a lot of classes on how stars are formed, how galaxies form, those were some of my favorite classes. I took a lot of math classes. I was never really the best student in math but I always really enjoyed learning math.
Where and when did you get the idea for BioBus?
I was on a bus, an old bus like this one in California and I was sitting next to a friend of mine, we were on a tour with a band. She looked around and said this would be a huge amazing bookmobile. Right, can you imagine that, if this whole bus was filled with books? But I was a science kid so I said, “I wonder what this bus would look like if it was full of microscopes.
Did something inspire you to go into science?
When I was young, it was the big bang and the idea of an infinite, expanding in every direction at every point universe that made me really excited about science. It wasn't until much later on that I started discovering how cool patterns in biology were.
When you travel to a location how long do you stay normally?
Sometimes we are at a school for a day - sometimes an entire week! It depends on how big the school is and how many students are coming on the bus. Six classes per day can come on the bus.
Do you go to other states on the bus?
We spend almost all of our time in NYC - there are so many students here that want to do more science! But one of our labs did just return from a trip to Boston, which was a lot of fun. They visited schools and went to the Cambridge science festival! One of the scientists we met there brought fish embryos to put on the microscope, which was really neat to look at.
Which scientist do you admire the most?
Who doesn't love Einstein? Playful, original, so creative, I'm especially excited about Einstein because of a new PBS show coming out soon called Light Falls which is amazing and inspirational! Also, Brian Greene, the physicist who created light falls and the world science festival, I admire him greatly.
What field of science do you like the most?
My favorite field of science still tends to be astrophysics and cosmology. I admit that in most ways it's not the most important science or really practical in any way. But LIGO and the images of the supermassive black holes are capturing my imagination the most right now, and also experiments searching for dark matter and trying to figure out dark energy. These are such major mysteries, and so much bigger than any of us, than our entire planet solar system... I like being reminded about how small we are yet also how much we've been able to understand.
BioBus is a science lab on wheels. Does the BioBus ever do experiments while driving around the city?
No! We're not even crazy enough to do that. But I like the idea of putting microscopes into the NYC Ferries or putting microscopes into the subway system.
What are you working on now?
The most exciting thing I'm working on right now is trying to figure out how to give every kid in NYC the chance to fulfill their scientific potential. BioBus has worked with a quarter-million kids in the past ten years, and will work with 500,000 more in the next ten years at least. But there are a million kids in NYC! How can we make sure everyone has the opportunity to do science if that's what they want to do? I like dreaming about a fleet of mobile labs throughout the city getting people excited about science, and a network of BioBase community labs, one in each neighborhood, bringing together the scientific community and providing advanced laboratory courses in the community as well as an internship for high school and college students.
Federico Lynch Ferraris is a fourth grader at The Peck Slip School who loves math, science, swimming, drawing, reading, writing, and TED Talks. He also loves to play his violin. He lives in NYC with his mom, dad, and older brother. He is a John Hopkins CTY scholar and a member of USA Swimming.
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