National dialogs such as Vision and Change, Future of the Research Enterprise, Engage to Excel, Achieving Systemic Change, have called for changes in instructional approaches that revitalize the learning environment at academic institutions. Supporting faculty development and leadership are key to sustaining pedagogical reform. This poster will present a case for including professional development opportunities for graduate students in a seminar format that allows the integration of research/teaching responsibilities. Such an approach, with a focus on improving educator skills can benefit graduate students irrespective of whether they enter academic or non-academic career paths. A Graduate seminar on “Trends in Undergraduate Biology Education” was offered for a 15-week period. The structure of this seminar and the outcomes will be presented. All studnets participatd in a survey at the end of the semester. With a focus on retention in Introductory Biology courses, students read and discussed at least 12 papers in the field. 1/5th of the seminar time was used to engage students in an ongoing intervention to measure the impacts of a supplemental course on the success of undergraduates in an introductory biology class. The graduate students participated in data collection, which involved a quantitative analysis of assignments [concept maps and outlines], and a discussion of the rationale for the particular approach. 17/18 students enrolled in the seminar wished to teach at a 2- or 4-year primarily undergraduate institution; 18/18 indicated (1) the lack of adequate training to prepare them as TAs (2) the need for getting formative feedback about their output as TAs, and (3) to provide opportunities beyond the usual TA experiences to develop their skills not only in teaching but also in communicating the essence of the topic being taught. These and additional data from the survey will be presented such as preparation of TAs, how they develop thier teaching style, and what they found most useful by attemnding hte seminar.