Over the past quarter century, my engagement with the protein society has allowed me to witness first-hand the evolution of our deepening understanding of the complexity of protein folding landscapes. During my own evolution as a protein scientist, my passion for protein folding has deepened into an obsession with mapping and decoding the thermodynamic and kinetic secrets of protein landscapes-especially those of rebel proteins, whose "nontraditional" behavior has challenged our paradigms and inspired the expansion of our models and methods. It is perhaps not surprising that I see parallels in the evolution of the landscape framework and in the development of our own trajectories as humans in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). Just as with proteins, however, we need to recognize that our individual human landscapes are not isolated from our local departmental and institutional communities, and are integrated into the larger networks of our STEM disciplines, academia, industry, and/or government, not to mention society. My experience with hundreds of participants in the Being Human in STEM (HSTEM) initiative that Amherst College undergraduates and I co-founded in 2016 has helped me find hope for STEM and humanity. If we commit to reconciling our identities as scientists with our responsibilities as human beings, together we can accelerate the evolution of individual, community, and societal landscapes to contribute to addressing the dire challenges facing our planet.
Keywords: STEM education; conformational landscapes; diversity; equity; inclusion; protein folding.
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