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SCHOOL JOURNAL

Amyris Biotechnology Starts Volunteering at Emeryville Schools

David Mills
Connection Staff
May 2008

Amyris Biotechnologies is receiving praise worldwide for an affordable anti-malaria drug it has developed, but in Emeryville the company is being lauded for the shot in the arm it is giving local schools.

The biotech firm has dispatched two dozen of its employees to Anna Yates Elementary and Emery Secondary to serve as volunteers.

The employees began their volunteer efforts in early March. Five of the employees are helping tutor reading and other subjects at Anna Yates while the rest are helping students at Emery Secondary with math and science.

They also held two Saturday workshops in April where employees from throughout the company helped clean up and organize classrooms and laboratories.

School officials are ecstatic about Amyris’ arrival.

“We are overjoyed,” said Emery superintendent Steve Wesley. “We feel very privileged to have them on board.”

The volunteer effort got rolling in December when Chamber of Commerce officials suggested Amyris officials look into volunteerism at the schools. Twenty-three employees met with Emery Education Fund members. All 23 employees signed up, including co-founders Jack Newman and Neil Renninger, much to the delight of Emery Ed Fund officials.

“Here’s a wonderful bio-tech firm that is making its presence felt in our community,” said Eugenia Bowman, Emery Ed Fund’s executive director.

Amyris has a long history of community involvement. Its three founders – Newman, Renninger and Kinkead Reiling – met in Berkeley. The company is headquartered in Emeryville and has always be involved in socially responsibility activities. The school volunteer effort fit right in with their philosophy.

“We’re very interested in doing the right thing, especially in our own back yard,” said Ingrid Fraunfelder, the co-coordinator of Amyris’ school volunteer program and a volunteer at Anna Yates.

Fraunfelder and the other elementary school volunteers will focus on helping students with their reading skills, but they will also assist in math and other topics.

At Emery Secondary, volunteers will help in math at all levels from algebra to calculus. In the sciences, they will concentrate on chemistry and biology.

Fraunfelder said the students are bound to reap benefits from the extra instruction, but she thinks Amyris employees will also be rewarded.

“There’s so much we can learn from the kids,” she said. “This also gives you a chance to recharge your batteries. It’s kind of nice to have the opportunity.”

This socially conscious mindset is also seen in Amyris’ business practices. The company has two major projects currently in operation. The first is production of renewable biofuel that is compatible with today’s automobiles.

The second is the development of the drug artemisinin, an accessible and affordable treatment for malaria that will be sent primarily to Africa and Asia. The project is partially funded by Bill Gates’ foundation. Amyris is doing the work on a non-profit basis.

David Mills is a writer for The Emeryville

Connection. If you have a question or comment, please contact him at ecocnews@gmail.com