By Andrew Chang ’26

Mercersburg faculty member Brooks Binau is actively participating in the Teacher Leader Community, a distinguished leadership program sponsored by Nourish the Future. This national STEM initiative links students with innovative agricultural practices, inspiring future careers. Nourish the Future’s mission is to empower teachers to ignite students’ passion for science, foster problem-solving skills, and open their eyes to exciting opportunities in agriculture.

Selected as one of only 32 teachers nationwide to participate in the yearlong fellowship, Binau was provided with a comprehensive professional development experience, including a behind-the-scenes tour of the research happening at Bayer Crop Science in St. Louis, and attendance at the nation’s leading agriculture conference, Commodity Classic.

“We went to a conference in St. Louis, Missouri, which was the first time that we all saw each other in person,” Binau said. “We did some hands-on lessons and experiments that we could do with different students, at varying levels, to bring agricultural science into everyday classrooms.”

At Bayer Crop Science’s biotechnology facility, Binau observed state-of-the-art research. “They had this huge maker’s lab where they design their own technology to then use for research,” he explained. He plans to connect Mercersburg’s Principles of Research Science students to authentic research at the Danforth Plant Science Center, saying, “Our students will learn how to conduct research on campus, and their findings will actually be shared with scientists at Danforth, who will incorporate the results into their work and publications.”

Binau has already started using these lessons at Mercersburg. “I have prepared a pGLO lab, attempting to insert DNA into bacteria to make it bioluminescent; it’s a way to introduce biotech in agriculture and genetic engineering,” he said. He is also planning units on animal nutrition and local dairy farming for 9th-grade biology.

For Binau, the program aims to introduce students to new opportunities. “There are careers in agricultural science that you may not know exist, but it’s a field where they need more young people to get involved,” he said. “We all eat every single day. The whole world revolves around agriculture.”

Nourish the Future education lead Heather Bryan agreed: “Learning science through agriculture inspires students to pursue critical scientific careers—many of which are currently unfilled. Through this program, Binau is opening up new opportunities for students and his colleagues.”