One of the greatest resources at the UA is the vast number of undergraduates engaged in and passionate about science, a passion that the students of the Undergraduate Biology Research Program (UBRP) have had the opportunity to share with 6th graders in Ms. Patricia Robles-Medina's class at Mansfeld Middle School through a Pen Pal program.  UBRP students thus have the opportunity to foster an excitement for science while serving as role models for younger minds.

With each 6th grade student paired with an undergraduate scientist in UBRP, letters have been exchanged in a special Pen Pal notebook multiple times during this academic year.  The year of correspondence culminated on May 4 in a Pen Pal Meet & Greet, hosted by UBRP and BIO5's BioLink program, in which Ms. Robles-Medina's class came to the University to finally meet their UBRP Pen Pals face-to-face.  During their visit to UA's Biological Sciences West, Gould-Simpson, and Life Sciences South facilities, the students participated in hands-on science activities and lab tours while meeting and talking with their pen pals.  Students extracted their own DNA, explored a Brain Zoo, learned about insects, and toured a laboratory in which one of the UBRP students conducts his research. The morning activities (approximately 10:00-11:30 am on the south side of the UA campus) were followed by a pizza lunch.

Misha Pangasa, UBRPer in Dr. Tracy Brooks' lab, Pharmacology and Toxicology