Tara García Mathewson, Education Dive

"Dissecting a frog has long been the standard animal lab in schools, but those that can afford to acquire and store live animals for an extended experiment like the one with zebrafish could be more effective at engaging students and teaching them the role of scientists.... This type of instruction can be more engaging for students and also more relevant to their future exploration of the field."

Laura Ascione Devaney, eSchool News

"'We expected the students to increase their understanding of the concepts they learned, but what is most promising is the positive increases in their attitudes towards the practice of science,' said first author Jamie Shuda, EdD, director of Outreach and Education at Penn’s Institute for Regenerative Medicine."

Kim Hairston, The Baltimore Sun

“Project BioEyes gives students an opportunity to experience science by growing and studying zebrafish. This hands-on style of teaching may inspire future scientists.”

Meredith Cohn, The Baltimore Sun

"Children learn better by doing rather than just watching, research shows, and educators hope this program, which involves students breeding and raising zebrafish over a week, will engross them enough to learn something and maybe even develop a lasting fascination with natural science."

Preston and Steve, 93.3 WMMR

On December 7, 2016, BioEYES Outreach Educator Tracy Nelson was featured on the Preston & Steve morning radio show (93.3, WMMR) as part of the "Not Your Average Listener" contest, which features listeners of the show who have unique jobs and/or talents. She talked about BioEYES and her unique job of working with zebrafish and students in the Philadelphia area, and won the contest!

El Servicio de Información y Noticias Científicas

"'Ahora sé lo que es ser un científico'. Esta es una de las afirmaciones realizadas por uno de los 20.000 niños menores de 12 años que participaron en un programa dentro del proyecto BioEYES, gracias al cual alumnos de EE UU han criado durante una semana a peces cebra desde su estadio embrionario."

Johns Hopkins University

A program that brings live fish into classrooms to teach the fundamentals of biology not only helps students learn, but improves their attitudes about science.

Jamie R. Shuda, Valerie G. Butler, Robert Vary, Steven A. Farber; PLOS Biology

"We have analyzed 19,463 participating students’ pre- and post-tests within the program to examine their learning growth and attitude changes towards science. We found that at all grade levels, BioEYES effectively increased students’ content knowledge and produced favorable shifts in students’ attitudes about science. These outcomes were especially pronounced in younger students. Having served over 100,000 students, we find that our method for providing student-centered experiences and developing long-term partnerships with teachers is essential for the growth and sustainability of outreach and school collaborations.”

Karen Kreeger, Penn Medicine News Blog

"'We are a community hub that provides hands-on curriculum to our neighborhood schools,' Shuda said. 'Our recipe for teacher professional development, coupled with co-teaching in the classroom serves as a model for sustainability, but also long-term impact during a teacher's career. BioEYES is also often the students' first exposure to live science. Our structure allows for over 3,000 kids a year to have this experience.'"

Heather A. Davis, Penn Current

"This spring, the BioEYES program celebrates a major milestone: It will serve its 100,000th student. That means in the 14 years since BioEYES began, 100,000 elementary, middle, and high school students from Philadelphia and four other sites have been exposed to innovative, hands-on lessons that get them excited about and interested in science. That’s a lot of students. And that’s a lot of zebrafish."

Libby Mitchell, University of Utah Health Care

"In the classroom at Meadowlark, it was easy to see the process at work. Neugebauer asked the class what they think the small black dots on the larvae may be. Some guess gills. Some guess guts. Not one guess is discounted, but students are asked to explain the reasoning behind their guess. Finally, a student posits the dots may be the start of the stripes it will have as an adult. An answer that can be backed up with observable facts is found!"

Zachary Carey, City Springs EMS teacher writing for Baltimore Curriculum Project News

"These organizations allowed students to participate in enriching activities, including water testing, micro-invertebrate collection and observation, identifying and removing invasive species, hiking through the woods on a scavenger hunt, and of course, releasing our trout. The variety of activities provided an opportunity for students to stay engaged and find something uniquely interesting to them."

Williams College students teach BioEYES

BioEYES brings tropical fish to 4th grade classrooms in a science teaching workshop. Elementary students will breed fish in the classroom, then use microscopes to study their development. During the first week, Williams students will learn to set up fish matings, and learn about embryonic development and the genetics of fish pigmentation, as well as practice teaching the 4th grade BioEYES lesson plans with hands-on experiments using living animals. In the subsequent two weeks, we will work in 4th grade classrooms. No zebrafish or science experience is necessary. Visit our website for more information.

Carnegie Institution for Science

"The General Motors Corporation is presenting a $5,000.00 award to Carnegie’s BioEYES K-12 educational program on September 11, 2014, to deliver a two-week environmental curriculum, Your Watershed, Your Backyard. The program, established in 2008, is one of several BioEYES programs using live zebrafish in a hands-on approach to learning and focuses on local watersheds, pollution, and the Chesapeake Bay."

Monash College via the Internet Archive Wayback Machine

"'During activities such as BioEYES, I have regularly used scientific materials and equipment such as the microscope, which has enabled me to apply my knowledge to perform experiments and research. It was amazing to see the embryos grow in front of my eyes – I felt like a mother watching her babies grow up! I want to study pharmacy at Monash one day so programs such as BioEYES really help to develop the skills I need to achieve my dreams.'"

Lynn Petrinjak, NSTA Reports via the Internet Archive Wayback Machine

"Some teachers are partnering with scientists to create authentic research experiences to build student interest in science and increase their own content knowledge. While some of these partnerships arise informally, initiatives like BioEYES... help match scientists and teachers while providing professional development (PD) and more."

Notre Dame Science, Department of Physics

"Over the past five years, BioEYES, a community outreach program of the Notre Dame extended Research Community (NDeRC), has introduced more than 12,750 local K-12 students to scientific research and biology concepts using zebrafish. The program, which has cooperated with 85 teachers in 41 schools, reached the end of its grant funding this year, but will resume for middle school students next semester with support from the College of Science and the departments of Physics and Biology."

Chandra Harvey, The Chesapeake Bay Trust via the Internet Archive Wayback Machine

"Jodie Kavanaugh, a YWYB teacher at Hamilton Elementary/Middle School, recently wrote, 'my students are still talking about how ‘cool’ BioEYES is, even after two years!'... What do students learn? 'That a lot of pollution can kill fish,' one student remarked. Another echoed a sentiment of many of our students that 'there are things that everyone could and should do to help the environment.'"