PERIDEXION
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Michael Grome is a postdoctoral researcher in Synthetic Biology at Yale University with a strong passion for epistemology (the study of what and how we know), scientific thinking, and the intersections of science and society.
"I began my teaching experience in 2011 designing a curriculum for Science & Sustainability, instructing 10-12 year old students at Cornell University's Adult University. At Cornell, my interests became formalized learning Philosophy of Science (Dr. Richard Boyd), Philosophy of Religion & Reason (Dr. Scott MacDonald), Evolution (Dr. Amos Belmaker), and Linguistics (Octav Eugen DeLazero). In 2014, I designed and taught courses in Genetic Engineering, Nanomachines, Plant Biology, and Science & Society. It was this latter flagship course (renamed Scientific Thinking: How to Think Like a Scientist) that ultimately expanded for online and in-person youth and adult education via interactive Socratic-style seminars, with great success! Feedback has been compiled from 7 years of teaching (74% - 5 stars, 25% - 4 stars, and 2% - 3 stars; n = 118) with seminars ranging from 12-20 students in-person, and up to 70 students via Zoom."
MOTIVATION: "PERIDEXION is my personal project to help advance scientific thinking within education and public discourse. After speaking with parents, students, and educators, it's clear there is a significant lack of understanding of the underlying philosophy of science (what is science and why we use it) at all levels of education, even amongst scientists themselves.
Subjective Beings in an Objective World: "Through evolutionary selection and social conditioning, our minds have been programmed with an abundance of biases that may offer survival benefits in some contexts, but hinder our pursuit of approximating truth. By identifying cognitive biases and logical fallacies, reframing cognitive dissonance, and adjusting why we discuss (from asserting truth to approaching it), students will be better equipped to navigate fraught media landscapes and understand themselves and peers in the context of how we come to understand our world. I cannot tell you what is true, but we can learn what truth is and seek for ourselves consistently reliable approximations that work."
Words Matter: A belief is a claim that one holds to be true (accurate about the world) to some extent. A worldview is a collection of beliefs that form a narrative, or story, about the world. This is a model of reality that we use to see and interpret the world (our viewpoint), shaping our experience. A dialectic is broadly a conversation between two or more opposing perspectives (amongst people or within one's head) with the goal of approaching truth (better aligning one's beliefs with reality).
Scientific Thinking is a specific form of critical thinking that applies the common dialectic of science (sound argumentation) to everyday beliefs. The goal is to update beliefs (and ultimately our worldviews) to better align with reality (whatever that may be). A belief that better aligns with reality is one that, when applied, leads to more consistent and predictable outcomes (think engineering). A worldview that better aligns with reality is one that offers a clearer vision or more accurate interpretation of the world: offering us a greater ability to make reliable predictions and achieve successful outcomes.
Ph.D. - Yale University - DNA Nanotechnology - 2019
Focus: DNA Nanotechnology - Advisor: Chenxiang Lin
Scientific Teaching & Active Learning - Training Series - Yale Poorvu Center for Teaching & Learning: 2017
Teaching Fellow - Yale University
Laboratory in Nucleic Acids Research: 2016
Introduction to Biophysics: 2015
M.S. - Yale University - Cellular Biology - 2015
B.S. - Cornell University - Plant Sciences - 2013
Focus: Molecular Biology & Genetic Engineering
B.S. - Cornell University - Natural Resource Management - 2013
Focus: Sustainable Agriculture & Biotechnology
Westhill Public School System - Syracuse, NY - 2009
Yale Splash/Sprout – Course Designer & Instructor – Spring/Summer Instruction for High School
2023* Course: Science, Society, & Controversy – Thinking Like a Scientist (*scheduled)
2021 Course: Science, Society, & Controversy –Thinking Like a Scientist (Online)
2020 Course: Science, Society, & Controversy –Thinking Like a Scientist (Online)
2019 Course: Science, Society, & Controversy –Thinking Like a Scientist
2018 Course: DNA Nanomachines; Genetic Engineering; Science, Society, & Controversy
2015 Course: Knowledge CLASH – Science & Society
Course: Nanobots& Nanomachines
Course: Genetic Engineering (In Plants)
2014 Course: Science& Society (Interpretation, Certainty, & Authority)
Course: Intro to Genetic Engineering (In Plants)
Resume Link: Yale Splash - Michael Grome (learningu.org)
Yale Pathways to Science – Course Designer &Instructor – Summer Scholar Program
2023* Instructor: How to Think Like a Scientist – 5 days (*course application in progress)
2020 Instructor: How to Think Like a Scientist – 4 days
2018 Instructor: Genetic Engineering in Agriculture – 5 days
2017 Instructor: Plant Biology – 1 day
2015 Instructor: Genetic Engineering in Agriculture – 5 days
Program Link: Pathways Summer Scholars | Office of New Haven Affairs (yale.edu)
STEM Montessori Academy of Canada - STEM International Academy of Canada (SMAC-SIAC) –
Course Designer & Instructor – STEM Canada National Online Course Instruction
2021 Instructor: Scientific Thinking – How to Think Like a Scientist
Program Link: About Us – STEM MONTESSORI ACADEMY OF CANADA (stemacademy.net)
Learning Unlimited Rainstorm – Course Designer &Instructor – National Online Course Instruction
2020 Instructor: How to Think Like a Scientist
Program Link: Michael Grome - LU Cloud (learningu.org)
Yale Science Diplomats – Science in the News
2018 - 2019 Head Videographer & Poster Designer
2017 - 2018 Director of Outreach
2017 Selected Lecturer: "3 Ways To Destroy Humanity: Human Genetic Engineering"
Program Link: Poster SITN 2017 FINAL 2 (nhfpl.org)
2014 Selected Lecturer: "OMG GMOs: Genetic Engineering of Crop Plants"
Yale Science Café
2018 Selected Lecturer: Killing Cancer with DNA Nanotechnology
Yale Center for Teaching & Learning
2017 Active Learning Design Competition - Teachable Tidbit: Understanding DNA Base-Pairing (selected for reproduction)
2017 Evidence-based Teaching in STEM Program - Teaching Certification
Course Link: Yale Scientific Teaching Course | Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning
Course Teaching Assistant
2016 MCDB342: Laboratory in Nucleic Acids I – course lab setup & mentoring
2015 BIOL101: Introduction to Biology - Biochemistry & Biophysics – Seminar Instructor
New Haven Science Fair
2013 - 2014 Wilbur Cross High School – Classroom Science Mentor
Cornell Adult University – Course Designer &Instructor
2010 Instructor: Science of Sustainability (>55 hrs of Instruction)
2023 Yale Pint of Postdoc –Postdoc Research Showcase Speaker - Topic: Genomically Recoded Organisms
2022 MCDB Department Conference – Research Presentation
2019 AllPoints West – Speaker Competition Finalist – Representative for Yale Department of Molecular Biology (MCDB)
Event Link: All Points West | Yale West Campus
2019 3-MinuteThesis Competition Finalist - Topic: DNA Nanomachines in Membrane Engineering
Competition Link: https://ocs.yale.edu/video/3-minute-thesis-competition-2019-4
2019 SacklerDiscussion Group – Selected Presenter – Topic: DNA Self-assembly
2018 TEDx Yale Selected Speaker - Competition Winner – Title: The Dialectic Life
Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asgDKbKjEhY
2018 Podcast Interview – BeTheTalk: TEDx Interviews with Nathan Eckel – Ep 185
Podcast Link: BeTheTalk with Nathan Eckel - 185: The Dialectic Life with Michael Grome on Stitcher
2017 1stPrize Poster - International DNA Nanotech Conference (DNAtec17) - Max Planck Institute – Dresden, DE
Conference Link: https://cfaed.tu-dresden.de/upcoming-events/dnatec17
2016 Yale West Campus Recruitment Presenter – Title: A Day in the Life
Research Profile: Michael W. Grome (researchgate.net)
➢ Grome MW, Isaacs JI. 2021. ZTCG: Viruses expand the genetic aphabet. Science. 372 (6541), 460-461
➢ Shen Q, Grome MW, Yang Y, Lin C. 2019. Engineering Lipid Membranes with Programmable DNA Nanostructures. Advanced Biosystems. 4 (1), 1900215
➢ Grome MW, Zhang Z, Lin C. 2019. Stiffness and Membrane Anchor Density Modulate DNA-Nanospring-Induced Vesicle Tubulation. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces. 22987-22992
➢ Grome MW, Zhang Z, Pincet F, Lin C. 2018. Vesicle tubulation with self-assembling DNA nanosprings. Angewandte chemie. 57(19):5330-5334
➢ Rovner AJ, Haimovich AD, Katz SR, Li Z, Grome MW, Gassaway BM, Amiram M, Patel JR, Gallagher RR, Rinehart J, Isaacs FJ. 2015. Recoded organisms engineered to be dependent on synthetic amino acids. Nature. 518, 89-93
IsaacsLab: 2020 - Present
o Gabriel Baldissera (current: graduaterotation – 10 weeks)
o David Sozanski (current: undergraduatein lab)
o Kebron Gurara (current: graduate inlab)
o Maisha Prome (current: graduate inlab)
o Eason Cao (graduate rotation – 10weeks)
o Deanna Hausman (graduate rotation – 6weeks)
o Kaiyuan Tang (graduate rotation – 10weeks)
2021 NIHF32 Postdoctoral Fellowship (PA-20-242) – Sponsored Project: Programmable keratinous
bio-adhesives for recalcitrant wound recovery
2013 Research Internship - DuPont Pioneer - Wilmington Experimental Station
Focus: Soybean Transformation
2020 - Volunteer Cycling Coach – Yale Cycling Team – Ride Leader, Leadership mentor –
Intro to Racing & Group-Riding Skills Clinics (sessions for Yale students or local cyclists)
2020 - MCDB Department DEI Committee – Outreach & Community Subcommittees
Efforts: website outreach resources, department Slack, elementary biology module design, hiring committee
Program Link: Outreach | Molecular, Cellular andDevelopmental Biology (yale.edu)
2016 - Spin Instructor: mActivity, Payne Whitney Gym –affiliation with Yale Cycling Team & New Haven Bicycling Club
2016 - Alumni Student Mentor – Biannual Westhill High School Project Design Review
2021 AllPoints West Joint-Coordinator & Morning Session Announcer
Event Link: All Points West | Yale West Campus
2021 West Campus Committee volunteer – invited contributor, not active coordinator
2019 Cell Biology Department Happy Hour & Event Coordinator
2018 ProAm Cyclist – CT Cycling Advancement Program – Charles Coaching
2018 Cell Biology Department Conference Social Event Planner & Coordinator
2017 - 2018 Director of Yale Science in the News –Science Outreach Program Coordinator & Scientific Communication Mentor
Program Link: https://sciencediplomats.sites.yale.edu/about-us/leadership/former-leadership
2016 Yale Cycling Initiative: Advancement of Women in Cycling - Award: ECCC’s Most Diverse Team
2014 - 2016 Yale Cycling Team Co-Captain– Race Trainer & Coordinator, Website Designer
Program Link: Building a Community of Cyclists (yalecycling.org)
2012 Outreach Assistant - Fingerlakes ReUse Center (Nonprofit Recycling Organization)
2009 - 2011 Environmental Committee Board Member, Cornell University
PERIDEXION is a Socratic seminar course and resource toolset designed to encourage analytic, critical thinking. Participants engage in scientific thinking through learning the limitations of human cognition, challenging natural biases, and applying methods of analytical philosophy toward updating beliefs to approach objectivity. Scientific Thinking is ultimately an individual endeavor: PERIDEXION provides tools to start the process.
