Standing in front of one of her lecture slides, Naomi Pierce (left), professor of biology, talks with Chris Grant and Rikkie Farnlof, seniors at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School. Photo by Kris Snibbe.

The slide dominating the dark auditorium in the Fairchild Biochemistry Building showed a swarm of ants crawling all over a caterpillar.

But the caterpillar wasn't being eaten by the ants, it was being tended by them, an activity that fascinated some of the high school biology students in the audience.

"I thought it was really interesting how the ants interacted with the butterfly," said Chris Grant, a senior advanced placement biology student at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School. "I've never seen anything like that."

Grant was one of about 40 Cambridge Rindge and Latin students who attended a lecture by Naomi Pierce, the Sidney A. and John H. Hessel Professor of Biology, and curator of lepidoptera in the Museum of Comparative Zoology. Pierce's slide show and lecture described the findings in her ongoing study of the relationship between certain ant and butterfly species, which is notable in that the butterfly larva, or caterpillars, are actually cared for by the ants in exchange for a protein-rich liquid excreted by the caterpillar.

But more important than the presentation itself, according to their teachers and organizers of the lecture, was the chance for students to interact with someone conducting current research and for them to see that biology is not simply knowledge found in dusty textbooks, but a field constantly expanding as researchers make new discoveries.

"Part of what I try to tell them is you can do this," said Pierce, who, in addition to lecturing, has welcomed interns into her laboratory during the summer. "[While growing up] I didn't know you could do this for a living. I really didn't know people can go out and do field biology for a living."

The lecture is part of an outreach program by the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology with Cambridge Rindge and Latin and Somerville High School that is intended to pique students' interest in biology and to show them that there are many fascinating jobs in the field.

"Here's a case where we've matched the special things going on at Harvard with the special things going on in the community," said Stephen Harrison, Higgins Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, who is overseeing the program.

The outreach has four main parts, including the lecture series for high school students and teachers, a microscope workshop for students, an eight-week summer research internship for students and teachers, and a five-day summer workshop for teachers.

The program, funded through educational grants from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, is coordinated by Mandana Sassanfar, a teaching assistant in molecular and cellular biology. Robert Lue, preceptor in molecular and cellular biology, directs the microscope workshop. Sassanfar said the program is already showing results. In the five years the program has been in effect, she said, the number of students getting advanced placement credit in biology doubled at Cambridge Rindge and Latin.

"We know we made a big difference in advanced placement biology in Cambridge," Sassanfar added.

That success prompted the recent decision to expand the program to students at Somerville High School, Sassanfar said.

Though the ultimate goal is to reach high school students, parts of the program -- such as the summer workshop -- are specifically designed for teachers.

"Our biggest impact can be on the teachers who know best how to translate this to the language and level of sophistication of the current group of high school students," Harrison said. "There's an important multiplier effect. We can reach 25 teachers, and 25 students through each of them."

Teachers from Cambridge Rindge and Latin gave the program high marks.

Julie Snyder, Cambridge Rindge and Latin's advanced placement biology teacher, said the lectures stimulate classroom discussion by introducing topics beyond those found in textbooks.

"It gives us something we can expand upon and lets the students see that biology keeps on growing, it's not something that is just in books," Snyder said.

Tad Sudnick, a Rindge and Latin science teacher, said the program shows students there are careers in biology and also helps their self- esteem by demonstrating that there are people outside the school willing to take an interest in them.

"I think the real exciting thing for [the students] is the access --knowing there are people in the community reaching out, saying, 'We want to start a partnership with you.' I think that's sort of startling to them," Sudnick said. "[Students also see] there are jobs out there in which they can express their love of nature and science and their desire to find out 'why' and still put bread on the table."