Having access to science education wasn't always easy and I've consistently tried to reach students at every stage to get them excited about science.
As a PhD student, I've mentored undergrad researchers over the summer semesters under the NSF-REU program. One student published a first-author paper in PLoS ONE, and seeing these undergrads get excited about the research was very rewarding.
A student's doodle.
General genetics: I taught two semesters of the undergrad discussion sections on classical Mendelian and molecular genetics.
Intro to Biology: I taught one semester of lab exercises for freshman undergrads with non-science majors.
I was a coach for the middle school science olympiad team in Knoxville's Bearden Middle School and had a lot of fun engaging kids in microbiology.
Thank you card from elementary school kids.
I was the Outreach Chair on the Grad Student Advocacy Committee at Knoxville for my PhD program, and the experience taught me a lot about scientific and social challenges. I helped create a community for incoming grad students and served on peer committees for candidacy exams (I learnt a lot of obscure knowledge about plant hormones, pathogenic and tundra microbes, protein receptors, and the biophysics of photosynthesis).