Ask Anton Khodakov what his college plans are, the Rowland Hall senior doesn't hesitate.
The place: Stanford University. The field: biomedical engineering.
But he's not so sure about what scientific questions to explore, although he is drawn to brain imaging and is sure we have to confront global warming. That's because technological change is in overdrive and science will be in a new place by the time he graduates.
"We will be developing solutions in conjunctions with new technologies. That's why I'm interested in being part of the new process, rather than fixing the old ones. Yeah, we've got to stop this melting of the ice caps, but ... ," Khodakov said Tuesday evening, after a meeting at the Salt Lake City Public Library between Mario Capecchi and 25 high-achieving high school science students.
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Science on the upswing » The Nobel-winning geneticist gave the aspiring scientists a personal pep talk before his lecture to an overflow audience. His lecture explained his process of gene targeting, credited with revolutionizing the way biomedical research is conducted, and recounted his near-miraculous survival as a little boy wandering war-time Italy in the 1940s and his path to the University of Utah.
Science progresses in fits and starts, rather than a straight line, he told the students, and currently is in an upswing.
"All those bumps are new technologies that allow you to see new things," Capecchi said. "Science is always changing. The questions we're working on today are different than they were five years ago. You never get bored. You solve a problem and you generate 10 more questions. You're coming in at a fantastic time."
The world needs to find solutions to critical problems, such as changing climate, dwindling resources and inequitable access to health care.
"The world is in a mess. Some of it is from technology, but the way out is through science," said Capecchi as he perched on the auditorium stage before the students. "We need scientists thinking about these problems and coming up with solutions."
Students asked about where science is headed, openly wondering why the public, and students in particular, seems indifferent.
For the past eight years, federal support in scientific research has waned, Capecchi observed, but he is encouraged by pro-science signals coming from the new administration in Washington.
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Leadership in Washington » In an April speech to the National Academy of Sciences President Barack Obama said "Science is more essential for our prosperity, our security, our health, our environment and our quality of life than it has ever been before." He promised to devote 3 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) to basic science and applied research.
The president's speech noted that the federal investment in science, expressed as a portion of GDP, has fallen by nearly half over the past 25 years, and American 15-year-olds are ranked 25th in math and 21st in science compared with peers in other nations.
Federal policy is key to reversing these trends and preserving U.S. leadership in science and technology, said Shirley Malcom, education and human resources director at the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
"It's the interaction between scientists and engineers that allows us to have the quality of life we have. They comprise only 6 percent of work force, and yet their importance to every sector cannot be denied," said Malcom, who holds a doctorate in ecology and has taught in both college and public school classrooms. "The World Wide Web was built by physicists to accommodate their need to share data. It was not developed by the private sector -- it was a federal investment."
But Malcom is more concerned about the decline of scientific literacy among Americans in general. In his meeting with the students, Capecchi likewise cautioned that scientists must do a better of job of telling their stories to keep the public engaged with scientific matters.
"A lot of what we do is publicly funded. If the public decides science is for the birds, and ask why are we doing it, they might not support it anymore," he said. "We have to communicate why we're doing what we're doing."
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Science's next generation » But just as important is engaging young people in science, starting with elementary school kids, said Al Church, principal of the Academy of Math, Engineering & Science, the Utah charter school known as AMES, whose teachers include tenured U. science faculty.
"We need to bridge the gaps between the schools, the university and private sector and create more mentoring opportunities," Church said. "We need a support system for students who risk taking hard classes. ... It has to happen early, and it can't be just top students."
The high-achievers Capecchi met Tuesday hardly need such encouragement, but they still need be able to look forward to rewarding careers in science. For Highland High senior Matthew Chaney, that's addressing threats to drinking water and problems caused by climate change. He plans to study civil engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology next year.
"I really like the outdoors so it would be cool to work with water, here and in Third World countries," Chaney said.
