Todd Kelson shares how finding a teaching solution to increase STEM student retention can simultaneously lead to an answer to a global healthcare problem. Todd Kelson, PhD earned a M.S. in Plant Genetics from Iowa State University and a Ph.D. in Human Genetics from the Medical College of Virginia. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Colorado Mental Retardation Research Center. He is the father of 3 children and has been teaching Biology and Genetics at Brigham Young University – Idaho in Rexburg since 1998.
In 2013, he became involved in a global antibiotic discovery program as a research tool to retain STEM students in college. He has mentored over 2,500 students as they have identified antibiotics in the soil. He spent one year as the Chair of the Steering Committee for that organization, and traveled to the Middle East where he trained Iraqi professors on the discovery of antibiotics from soil. . More recently, Todd became involved in teaching high school students about antibiotic discovery and has been piloting a new program in eastern Idaho to encourage high school students to pursue STEM careers. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx