Scholarship and Biography
Although I received my Ph.D from MIT in 2004 for studying protein folding and aggregation, my true passion has always been in biology teaching and education. I was an education research post doc for two years in the HHMI Education Group at MIT and focused primarily on biological education research and the importance of concept-based teaching and learning in biology.
I have recognized the need for better biological preparation at the high school level and am actively involved in several K12 education efforts. I am currently directing a series of outreach and education activities for the university. I organize field trips to campus by local area high school students to give them an opportunity to explore research-level science. In addition, I am a Communication Fellow in Informal Science Education at the Discovery Museum in Acton. I am also the academic director of the Brandeis STEM Posse program. I work closely with the scholars during their two-week pre-collegiate summer immersion training program. I also mentor and advise the students once they enroll in courses here on campus.
Here at Brandeis, I teach the introductory biology lab course and various other undergraduate and graduate level biology courses. I hope to incorporate elements of protein folding and aggregation studies into the introductory biology laboratory and to mentor undergraduate and graduate students interested in pursuing teaching careers. Every course I teach emphasizes the importance of science communication and social awareness as I feel strongly that my students need to be able to be ambassadors of STEM to the outside world.
I have become interested in science education policy. I was a 2022-2023 Advanced Education Policy Fellow Leadership Fellow with the Rennie Center, a 2015 SACNAS Leadership Institute Fellow, and a 2016 Faculty Leader in Policy Analysis and Research at the Pardee-Rand graduate school. I incorporate aspects of policy into many of my courses.