High school students to solve murder mystery at UBC

Event: CSI @ LSI: A hands-on CSI-style murder mystery designed to spark high school students’ interest in science

Date/ Time: Friday, May 27, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. RSVP by 9 a.m.

Location: LSI Reception, Rm. 1340 Life Sciences Centre
2350 Health Sciences Mall, UBC Vancouver.
Enter via West Atrium off Agronomy Road.
Map: http://www.maps.ubc.ca?529


A female graduate student has been found dead at her laboratory bench at UBC, the suspect list includes disgruntled grad students, a boyfriend scorned, a frustrated graduate supervisor, and a beleaguered maintenance worker.

Guided by graduate students at UBC’s Life Sciences Institute (LSI), a group of 26 high school students from Bella Bella Community School in BC’s central coast will use basic scientific techniques to examine evidence and finger the killer, CSI-style.

Media are invited for the following activities:

10:45 a.m.      First look at the crime scene
11:00 a.m.      Review suspect list
1-4:00 p.m.     Working with electron microscopy and mass spectroscopy

Heather Denroche, Blair Gage, and Scott Holmes, UBC graduate students and organizers of the event; students from Bella Bella Community School; and their teacher, David Applebaum, will be available for media interviews.

Due to space constraints, please RSVP by 9am Friday, May 27. Contact Kelsey Mauch, 604-827-4982, LSI.GRAD@ubc.ca

The CSI at LSI program, designed to get students interested in science as a career, has been run by volunteer graduate students for the past three years. Recent funding from the Province’s Year of Science initiative has allowed the annual event to expand from one- to two-days and cover the school group’s transportation, meals and accommodation.

“This is an amazing opportunity for these students,” says David Applebaum, the group’s teacher. “Bella Bella is a small island community. This is an experience they would never have access to at home.”

Learn more about the “CSI @ LSI” outreach program at: http://grad.lsi.ubc.ca/yos/

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Contact

Kelsey Mauch
UBC Life Sciences Institute
Tel: 604.827.4982
Email: LSI.GRAD@ubc.ca

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