Greenwood’s statement conveys a sense of urgency about the state of bioscience education in America – as does the BIO report itself. “Where the country leads in scientific and industry development, it is trailing many developed nations in the educational attainment of its workforce,” it states. “This poses a very real threat to the nation’s leadership position in the coming decade.” Even more sobering is the National Academies of Sciences’ follow-up report, “Rising above the gathering storm, revisited,” which assesses changes in the nation’s competitiveness outlook in the five years since the original “gathering storm” document was issued. The 2010 report observes that there has been little improvement in the public school system, particularly in STEM education, and bluntly notes, “The Gathering Storm increasingly appears to be a Category 5.”

Leslie W. Chinn (leslie.chinn@gmail.com) is an ORISE fellow at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.