IES Eladio Cabañero (Tomelloso)

Close collaboration with #MelanogasterCTF has placed our school at the top of Science.

Already a long time ago in 2016, a project began together, which went from the initial company in the fieldwork to a serious collaboration in which teachers and students from our center have participated. Nearly two hundred students have been involved in researching the adaptation genomics of the so-called fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) to different environments. A methodical and rigorous work endorsed by the European Network of Citizen Science that has led to the discovery of a new virus.

The researcher at the Institute of Evolutionary Biology (Barcelona), Dr. Josefa González, in addition to the high school’s teachers, María Luisa Espinosa, Antonio José Buendía and María José Gómez, have guided and coordinated the students’ work.

The gains for our school from #MelanogasterCTF are several and valuable. Without a doubt, to increase the perceived value of research and science. It is vitally important that our students discover research at an early age, given that it is at this time when professional interests are developed.

The transition between stages is also important. In Secondary schools, in general, we are very concerned about the transition between primary and secondary, and the competent Educational Administration articulates various mechanisms so that it does not generate uncertainty or frustration. However, the transition between Secondary schools and the University is also important. The Guidance department of each center has an important role there, although this transition is often ignored. Projects like #MelanogasterCTF play a fundamental role, since the students, from the first year of Secondary Education, are part of a ‘gear’ comprising different levels of study. The training provided by the vertical knowledge of a research project eliminates existential doubts as to what to study, why, where, in what context, etc., which would remain otherwise unanswered.

With these two advantages, and as the person eventually in charge of the center, I conclude —for the students, for science, and for the IES Eladio Cabañero—, indicating that having discovered the possibility of participating in projects like #MelanogasterCTF has knocked down our walls and opened up scientific horizons, always so necessary and so desired in these times.

For us, it is an enormous pleasure to participate during all these years in the #MelanogasterCTF project, which brings us closer to the world of science while helping us to motivate our students. For this reason, we will continue to collaborate actively with the entire team of scientists, doing our bit. At the same time, we want to thank them for the opportunity you have given us to be part of this work.

The #MelanogasterCTF project has been a unique opportunity that allowed me to belong to scientific research for the first time. It was an experience that offered me the chance to learn about the first steps behind all great discoveries and through which I learned to be part of this European network of researchers. It was a very interesting activity, so much so that I didn’t even realize the hours we spent in the laboratory, how quickly time passed and how satisfying it was to find the specimens we needed when looking at it with the magnifying glasses.
In summary, I can say that thanks to this project and to the people who allowed us to collaborate in it, I am taking great lessons that will accompany me on my academic journey.