Project alum
Leah Bricker is a Research Associate Professor at Northwestern University and the Spencer Foundation. She is a science educator and a learning scientist who studies children and youths’ science-related learning trajectories in schools and in other learning environments, such as museums, gardens, and zoos. She is really interested in connections between language (verbal and nonverbal communication) and science learning. Leah also uses design-based research to design science curricula in partnership with youths, families, and teachers, and then studies the curricula in action. Leah’s undergraduate and Master’s degrees are in the biological sciences (from the University of Arizona and Purdue University, respectively), and her PhD is in the learning sciences from the University of Washington. She was a middle school science teacher in Indianapolis, IN before working on issues related to science education policy at the Indiana Department of Education and at the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s Project 2061. Bricker has also helped preservice science teachers learn to teach science, and has designed and facilitated professional development experiences with and for practicing science teachers.