The scientific community currently has unprecedented access to an array of venues for communicating with the nonscientific general public. Addressing this deficiency of science communication, the National Science Foundation has committed to “sharing the best insights with others” (National Science Foundation, 2011, p.5) as a core value and promoted its Graduate K-12 (GK-12) program as one way to improve communication skills among STEM professionals. This paper will discuss findings from a GK- 12 funded project. This study compares teachers with graduate scientists in advising and mentoring skills before and after training. Comparisons of graduate scientists’ perceptions of communication effectiveness of advising and mentoring are reported along the year. The results indicate that graduate scientists perceived their skill level in advising and mentoring to improve over time. The data indicate that the immersion component of the program is believed to be a crucial component to increasing graduate scientists’ perceived skills in advising and mentoring.