I am a professor of STEM Education at UC-Santa Barbara where I work with educators to develop the capacity of youth to innovate a more sustainable and just future. My work focuses on teacher development and student learning in science. My work connects classroom educators and informal education institutions to research and create programs and curricula. Across my career, I have created undergraduate physics curricula, engineering-focused museum field trips and classroom activities for elementary school students, digital games focused on quantum computing, professional development for museum facilitators, and teacher education and professional development programs that develop the capacity of teachers to focus students’ attention on their local environment and take take local action. I teach in the graduate program of education about Technology, STEM education, and Design Based Research and teaches elementary school teacher candidates in the Teacher Education Program. Currently, my team of graduate students work on projects that explore how to bring outdoor education and experiences to more students, the potential of games in science education, how to prepare teachers to engage students in climate change education, and how to work with communities to understand the risks of climate change and develop adaptation strategies and resilience.
Prior to joining UCSB, I earned a Ph.D. in Education from the University of Colorado, Boulder, an M.S. in Geophysics from Stanford (now the Doerr School of Sustainability) and a B.S. in Physics from Valparaiso University. I was also a high school (O-Level) physics teacher at Minaki Secondary School in Tanzania East Africa as a Peace Corps Volunteer.
I am the faculty director of the UCSB California Global Education Project (CGEP), Director of the UCSB Certificate in College and University Teaching (CCUT), Affiliated Faculty for the Interdisciplinary PhD emphasis in Climate Science and Climate Change, and Associate Dean of faculty development for the Gevirtz Graduate School of Education, and sit on the steering committee for California's Environmental and Climate Change Literacy Projects (ECCLPS).
Outside of work, I enjoy camping with my family exploring our local tide pools, watching my daughter and her friends in many youth theater and dance performances, water color painting and nature journaling, paddle boarding, facilitating outdoor skills and camping experiences for our local Girl Scout council, and leading a troop of energetic and adventurous teen girls.