Ryan Wheeler
Series | Instructor-facilitated Career Exploration
Mr. Wheeler has spent his 20 year career building, presenting, and sustaining a broad array of training programs to support the career and professional development of biomedical research trainees, and has presented such workshops at institutions and professional meetings around the U.S. Since its inception eight years ago, Wheeler has directed, co-taught, and published on the Career Planning Course for STEM PhDs, an instructor-facilitated career exploration series that was competitively selected to be part of the pd|hub Collection: Foundations of Career Exploration for PhD Scientists. This model builds on a predecessor series Wheeler co-developed in 2006 and co-taught 25 times, before its evolution into the current course. Wheeler has been active at the national level, including serving as a grant reviewer for the National Science Foundation Division of Graduate Education, serving as a career coach at various scientific society meetings, and as a member of the Graduate Career Consortium. Wheeler brings experience as a train-the-trainer facilitator for the NIH Office of Intramural Training and Education workshop on career advising, and has mentored multiple scientists who have transitioned into the career development field. Wheeler has had roles in the Office of Admissions at the University of Washington and in the Career Services Center at the University of California San Diego. Wheeler holds a bachelor’s degree in Communications from University of Washington and a master’s degree in Postsecondary Education Administration from San Diego State University. As Senior Director for Professional Development and Academic Services at Scripps Research, Wheeler oversees training initiatives, international student and scholar services, library services, and career advising for hundreds of postdoctoral researchers and graduate students at Scripps.