Guest Lecturer, Marquea King
From my experiences, when you ask freshman biology majors what they want to do when they graduate from college, the majority of students proudly say "I want to be a medical doctor." Of course, there is absolutely nothing wrong with this ambition, but many students do not realize the vast career opportunities that can be obtained with a background in biology and/or chemistry. It was not until I received an opportunity as a sophomore undergraduate to attend a Society of Toxicology (SOT) Annual Meeting and participate in a summer internship program in a toxicology research laboratory that I changed my focus from medicine to biomedical research. It was this exposure that led to my decision to study toxicology in graduate school. Now as a college professor/toxicologist at North Carolina Central University (NCCU), a historically black university, I want to do my part to help provide college science students in Durham, North Carolina, some meaningful exposure to the exciting field of toxicology.
This is where Marquea D. King, a professional toxicologist, a colleague, and a good friend comes into the story. Currently, she works at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) based in Arlington, Virginia in the Office of Pesticide Programs, Health Effects Division. We had the good fortune of meeting a couple of years ago at SOT and ever since have worked together at SOT meetings during the Undergraduate Education Program, which helps to expose underrepresented groups to the world of toxicology. During the 2007 Annual SOT Meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina, Marquea and I both agreed that it would be great if she could come to Durham and talk to NCCU students. This led to the joint effort in writing a short application for SOT’s Guest Lecturer program, which provides funds for toxicologists to help defray costs to travel to college campuses and encourage science students to consider a career in toxicology. The application was accepted and we immediately began planning for the visit. Dr. King was awarded travel funds to come to NCCU on October 15–16 to deliver an introductory toxicology seminar to undergraduate/graduate students and faculty in the College of Science & Technology, and as a bonus she was able to provide a guest lecture to graduate students in my master’s level toxicology course.
The seminar was scheduled during the 10:40 AM hour that is usually reserved for various student organizational meetings. To ensure ample space, we reserved one of the larger classrooms in the science complex. After advertising this program with flyers and visiting science classrooms, it was great to see around 45–50 participants in the large classroom with the majority being undergraduate students. Both students and professors alike were very interested and engaged with Dr. King, which led to a whole host of questions and conversation about her presentation. Initially, a brief introduction of her background and current employment status was provided. Then, the discussions began with a description of the field of toxicology and how almost any material or chemical could become toxic depending on the dose. To ensure dialogue with the students, Dr. King challenged them to think of any chemical or substance with which they were consistently in contact, in and around the environment, that was not toxic. This opportunity prompted one of the undergraduate students to accept this irresistible challenge and to proclaim that oxygen was not toxic. This allowed for a great teaching moment, as the very next slide clearly demonstrated how extremely high concentrations of oxygen were potentially lethal. In addition, one of the chemistry professors in the audience provided a personal story of how oxygen toxicity could affect the health of newborns, further supporting the important point that the dose makes the poison as Paracelsus, the Father of Modern Toxicology, is credited with stating.
Another student in the audience inquired why there were more toxicologists employed on the East Coast, which led to a very candid discussion about toxicologists working not only in academia, but also in various other settings, such as pharmaceutical companies. Professors were also stimulated by the talk. One of the biology professors wondered how toxicologists correlated toxicity studies conducted in animal models to humans. This provided the opportunity to discuss some of the challenges with animal subjects as models in toxicology as well as the importance of influencing environmental and human health policy. Also discussed were the many ethical dilemmas that government agencies, such as the EPA face, when dealing with human studies, both intentional dosing and accidental exposures. The seminar was so informative and engaging that once the presentation was over, there were still a great number of audience members, both students and faculty, asking questions about toxicology.
From the many praising comments made by the NCCU students, I know that Dr. King’s visit was successful. One of the students stated that the seminar was so interesting that it did not even resemble the “normal or regular” seminars that are usually given. Another student commented how informative the talk was and how grateful he was to be able to attend. One of my graduate students informed me that after hearing Dr. King speak on the subject, she was now considering a potential career in nutrition and toxicology. These are just a few examples of the impact that a professional toxicologist such as Dr. King can have on undergraduate and graduate students alike as they are planning their career paths. Sincere thanks go to Dr. King for being willing to take time away from her work schedule from the EPA to come to NCCU. In addition, both Dr. King and I are extremely grateful to the SOT/CDI program for providing the opportunity to make this visit a success! I hope the Guest Lecturer program will continue to sponsor experts in the field who can encourage the next generation of toxicologists.
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