HudsonAlpha tells committee it reached more than 850 Alabama teachers with genomics education

Kelly East, vice president for educational outreach at HudsonAlpha, told the Ways and Means Education committee that the Huntsville-based genomics institute expanded teacher and student programming across Alabama and plans new regional offerings.

East said HudsonAlpha crossed “850” Alabama teachers reached in live engagement over the past year and delivered “more than 350 total hours of live instruction” to Alabama teachers. She described a long-running cycle of teacher workshops that visits regions on a two-year cycle; she said HudsonAlpha completed its sixth round of that cycle and will begin a seventh this fall, representing “14 years of teacher professional learning.”

East described student-facing experiences on the Huntsville campus and planned expansion to the Wiregrass region. “We consistently, every year, see 70 or more classes come through our doors on our Huntsville campus in our teaching labs,” she said, and added that a Wiregrass Innovation Center opening next spring will allow similar field-trip programming in the south part of the state.

East also described classroom resource efforts tied to Alabama course-of-study standards and a summer internship program that places 30–40 college students at HudsonAlpha campuses to work alongside scientists. She illustrated broader reach with a “bead jar” used internally to mark people impacted by their work; she said last year’s jar showed “1,600,000 beads,” many tied to Alabama students and teachers.

East thanked legislators for support and said HudsonAlpha is available as a resource to help schools and lawmakers navigate genetics, genomics and biotechnology in curriculum and workforce development.

No committee action or funding request was recorded in the transcript; East’s presentation was delivered as an update to the committee.