Dr. Eric Anslyn and Dr. Andy Ellington were present at the annual meeting on the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) compound in Chevy Chase, Maryland. The meeting was hosted by the HHMI Professors Program, a program empowering research scientists to extend engaging research opportunities to undergraduate students and improve science education. They presented both a lightning talk (Dr. Ellington) and chalk talk (Dr. Anslyn) on their conjoined efforts to develop professional and entrepreneurial education for undergraduates. Specifically, they presented their program known as Translational Research Initiative Professional (TRIP), which gives undergraduate chemistry majors first-hand experience of what it is like to be a graduate student in chemistry, as well as a close look at the lifestyle and career of chemistry professors.
In addition to presenting their own efforts, they also interacted with a wide array of other Hughes’ Professors, who were promoting projects ranging from increasing the representation of underrepresented minorities in astronomy (Keivan Stassun, Vanderbilt) to carrying geoscience back to students’ home communities (Julia Clarke, University of Texas at Austin) to veterans’ involvement in the sciences (Dr. Marla Geha, Yale). Since the program began in 2002, sixty-nine scientists have been named HHMI professors, working to support students in their path to STEM related careers.