Most days Jonathon Jones is a fermentation improvement engineer for Dow AgroSciences in Indianapolis. He doesn’t don a cape and turn into Superman at night, but he does often put on his volunteer hat and teach students, teachers and members of the public about the value of basic science in daily lives.

Jones is part of Dow AgroSciences' Science Ambassadors project. This all-volunteer effort dates back decades, notes Kenda Resler-Friend, media relations leader for Dow AgroSciences. “The program has touched more than half a million people,” she relates.

Jones took a few minutes out from teaching kids at the Indiana State Fair recently to tell Indiana Prairie Farmer about the program.

IPF: What is the purpose behind the Science Ambassadors program?

Jones: We want to increase science literacy for kids, parents and the general public. We volunteer to do this because we believe in the program. We think it’s very important that others understand what a company like ours can do based on science. We make products that help farmers produce more food and products that protect landmarks and houses.

Our goal is to help students and others understand how science, technology, engineering and math can play a role in real-life situations.

IPF: One project allows kids to make DNA bracelets. What is the purpose?

Jones: We ask them a series of questions. Based on their answers, they put different colors of beads on a bracelet. For example, boys put on a blue bead, and girls put on a pink bead. We want to introduce them to DNA, and help them understand that even if two organisms have the same kind of building blocks and the same amounts, they can turn out very different based on how these building blocks are arranged.

We often relate it to a recipe their mom or dad might follow in the kitchen. The amount of water you add to the same ingredients, for example, may determine whether you get a cake or brownies. Kids can grasp the idea of a recipe, and understand that genetics is all about different recipes used to make up the DNA genetic code.

IPF: What grade level do you gear the program to?

Jones: The neat thing is we can adapt it to any age level, from kindergartners to high school students to adults. We simply vary the amount of detail in our presentation. What’s exciting is that we can help someone as young as a kindergartener understand why people are different, why animals are different and why all plants aren’t the same, either.

IPF: How do you expand your effort to more people?

Jones: We do "train the trainer" sessions where we teach other people how to use our kits and spread the message about science in agriculture to more students. Just this spring, we trained 200 teachers in a program co-sponsored by Indiana Farm Bureau Inc. We introduced them to our chemistry kit, biology kit, DNA kit and more.