Mike Scanlon currently serves as Co-PI on an NSF-REU (Research Education for Undergraduates) grant headed by Georg Jander. This project introduces high school and undergraduate students to state-of-the-art techniques in plant biology, and trains students in scientific ethics, laboratory safety, and data presentation.

Scanlon has trained 12 undergraduate students to perform lab work in molecular genetics during his tenure at UGA and Cornell. He has developed a course targeted to non-science major students entitled "Hollywood Biology" which examined the treatment of scientific subjects in film, and included lectures and discussions of the topics, their scientific validity, and ethical considerations.

During the Summer of 2006, Scanlon hosted and trained High School student Eric Kelsey, who was recruited from Kennebunkport, ME High School by this outreach program. Kelsey worked on analyzing the evolution of duplicated genes in the genus Zea, and continued his work in the Scanlon lab after enrolling as an undergraduate at Cornell. Eric's hard work has earned him co-authorship on a manuscript recently submitted to the journal Plant Physiology.

During the summer of 2007, undergraduate student Doug Eudy (Truman State U) spent 10 weeks as an NSF REU student in the Scanlon lab studying reverse genetics; this work also garnered co-authorship for Doug.

Cornell undergraduate Devon Van Noble, a student interested in public health and environmental law, has worked as a laboratory assistant in the Scanlon laboratory since the Spring of 2007.