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Nancy Chambers shared that 2025-2026 has been an action-packed year for ARCS Atlanta Scholar Nathan Taylor. After getting married in June, Nathan received the news that he had been selected as an ARCS Scholar at Georgia Tech which he said was “an amazing way to kick off the academic year!” Additionally, Nathan was appointed to the Graduate Student Government Association to represent the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, as well as being elected to be Treasurer of the Graduate Student Government Association. Then, on the same day that Nathan learned that he had passed his department’s PhD Candidacy exam, he received a call from Nancy Chambers informing him that he had been selected to represent the State of Georgia and ARCS Atlanta to the National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology during their visit to Atlanta. In Nathan’s own words,

“Getting to represent not only Georgia Tech, but the entire State of Georgia to the Commissioners of the NSCEB was definitely a highlight of the semester for me. It was a great way for me to step out of the daily nuances of the lab and see how, not only the research, but the quality of the education within the University System of Georgia fits into the larger scope of advancing this country’s national security, enabling us to determine our own future and relationship with biotechnology. The meeting also provided an excellent opportunity to network with some passionate academics, entrepreneurs, and public policy advocates.”

The framework on which Nathan plans to build his PhD thesis is “using Machine Learning and AI approaches to probe and classify human cells using a novel molecular-based imaging platform.” He currently has multiple publications in the works, and one was recently submitted to a journal.

Nathan ended his update with words that will inspire all ARCS members:

“Funding, especially for existing graduate students, is drying up before our eyes. That is why it has been such an especially amazing experience for me to interact with the ARCS Foundation - members of the public and private corporations coming together to identify, reward, and encourage young scientists who, I can honestly say, feel incredibly disheartened by the current funding and research environment. It is my belief that this level of intervention by ARCS sponsors is reshaping the future of this nation and of science and engineering, one graduate student at a time.”

Nathan was especially impressed with the Scholar Awards Celebration and said it was a great way to network and practice presenting to a very broad audience.