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Ben Dubin-Thaler has been looking into microscopes since he was a child. Now, he runs a "Cell Motion Bio Bus" to help bring that joy to schoolchildren across the city.

"The Bio Bus was my way to bring the excitement that I felt about science to students across New York City," he says.

Dubin-Thaler received his Ph.D in cell biology from Columbia University two years ago, and when he graduated he decided he wanted to bring science to the community. So he bought a 1974 San Francisco transit bus off Craigslist and converted it into a Bio Bus, equipped with computers, microscopes and a lab.

"People first walk by and they're a little bit just 'What is that?' but then if we get them in and we show them samples of cells crawling around, I think as soon as we get people hooked to the microscope, they don't want to leave," says Dubin-Thaler.

The Bio Bus, which runs on solar and wind power and waste vegetable oil, parks at various locations around the city and is open to the public. During the school year he brings the bus to more than 30 schools.

"I think people should be able to look at this because not a lot of time in school they have the money to get microscopes," says student Jonathan Spielman.

Dubin-Thaler gets his microscopes and funding from companies, private donations and grants. Other scientists volunteer to come on board to teach the students.

"Schoolchildren in particular are not just looking at microscopes and through them, they are talking with young, dynamic laid-back, pleasant scientists, the real thing," says volunteer Jean Portell of the New York Microscopic Society.

Dubin-Thaler wants every child to have the opportunity to study science, not just from textbooks, but hands-on and up close.

"What we are really trying to do with the Bio Bus is try to even the playing field, try to bring our equipment to schools that don't usually have access to high-tech labs and give them that chance," he says.

Dubin-Thaler hopes to have more Bio Buses head around the city as part of school curriculums, and hopefully inspire budding young scientists.

"The most amazing thing for me in the couple years that I have been running this project is seeing how many incredibly smart, incredibly driven students there are in every school I have been to," he says.

So, for driving an interest in science and magnifying how fun it can be, Ben Dubin-Thaler is the latest New Yorker of the Week.

For more information on the Cell Motion Bio Bus, call 1-917-569-8926, visit www.biobus.org or email ben@biobus.org.

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