Skype a Scientist

It began as an informal program in 2017, founded by Sarah McAnulty while she was a graduate student at the University of Connecticut.

Sarah McAnulty came up with the idea for Skype a Scientist in 2016 while she was a graduate student in molecular and cell biology[6] at the University of Connecticut in Storrs.

[9] In 2017, McAnulty matched volunteer scientists with teachers and classrooms by hand using a Google spreadsheet, which she shared repeatedly on Twitter and Tumblr.

[10][8][a] As the program grew, McAnulty recruited her childhood friend, David Jenkins, a graduate student in bioinformatics at Boston University, to write an algorithm that could match scientists with classrooms automatically.

[10] "Drunk Scientist Trivia" nights were held at bars in Connecticut, where people could participate in hands-on science activities such as looking through microscopes.

In the Fishtown Neighborhood of Philadelphia, local artist, Sean Martorana, joined Dr. McAnulty and other partners in creating a mural completed in May 2023 depicting the aquatic life in the Delaware River.