Our research group is interested in how people make meaning of natural and physical science concepts. We explore meaning making (interpretation) and learning (saving and recalling information) by studying how people speak, read, and write about science. Subsequently, we study how people demonstrate understanding (transferring knowledge to solve problems) or perform (grades, retention in major).

We conduct our work in diverse field sites:
1. undergraduate science and engineering classrooms
2. K-12 classrooms
3. informal science education experiences (museums, school gardens, citizen science organizations)

Ultimately, our research informs the science education community.
  • The findings will inform students so they can become:
    • more aware of their own conceptual difficulties and be independent learners
    • more inclusive and productive teammates during group work
    • better communicators of science
  • The findings will inform instructors of science so they can support:
    •  student learning through writing activities
    •  science communication skills
    • critical thinking during problem-based learning activities
Lab News/ Celebrations:
2021
  • Meena received both the Department of Biology and the College of Natural Science awards for graduate teaching and mentoring.
  • Our paper (Stuchiner, Lin Hunter, Neuwald, Webb, & Balgopal) on Inclusive Mentoring will be published in Ecosphere.
  • Elizabeth Diaz-Clark is the new GDPE Communication Fellow
  • DeeDee Wright successfully defended her PhD in November 2021! She has taken a new job as Director of Research with the National Center for Science Education in Oakland, CA.
  • DeeDee published her first research paper from her dissertation: Wright et al. (2021). Middle school science teachers' motivations to implement place-based education curricula about local wildlife. Environmental Education Research, 27(10), 1519-1537.
  • Meena and Anna Edlund published a paper on Drawing-to-learn in Frontiers in Communication: Science and Environmental Communication.
  • Meena received a Bohemian Foundation grant with colleagues (Sara Bombaci, Becky Niemiec, and Kevin Crooks) to introduce youth to conservation biology research.
  • Meena received an NSF IUSE grant with colleagues (Becki Lijek, Gary McDowell, Daniela Saderi, and Sarah Fankhauser) to teach undergraduate biology students about peer review.
2020
  • Dani Lin Hunter, Emily Stuchiner, and Meena are offering a class called "Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusivity in Ecology" in Fall 2020 as ECOL 592
  • Dani Lin Hunter published her first paper in Citizen Science Theory & Practice in September 2020!
  • Meena and colleagues (Emily Fischer, Laura McMeeking, and two of our post-docs, Brittany Bloodhart and Anne Marie A. Casper) published our paper about undergraduate student biases in STEM classes in PLOS One.
  • Meena, DeeDee, and their colleagues (Andrea Weinberg and Laura S. McMeeking) received an NSF COVID-related grant (2020-2021) for $150K to study how novice STEM teachers are responding to new challenges during the pandemic.
  • Meena and colleagues (McMeeking, Sebald, Nerger, Oien, & Weinberg) received a new NSF Noyce grant (2020-2025) for $1.2 million to examine the impact of Place-Based Eduation professional development on novice and veteran STEM teachers.
  • Meena and colleagues, Tanya Dewey and Kim Hoke, received a Digital Learning grant to update introductory biology laboratory curriculum using the online platform, Canvas.
  • Meena was promoted to full professor!
2019
  • Meena received the university Jack E. Cermak Advising Award
  • Dani Lin Hunter passed her prelim exams in Ecology!
  • Leila Graves (lab alumna) will start a new position as a curriculum development specialist with the national FFA office starting Fall 2019!
  • Meena returned from her sabbatical in India supported by a Fulbright-Nehru Award. She worked with ecologists from Dakshin Foundation on designing a global south-specific, UNESCO-based environmental education model
  • We have two new students joining our research group: Jennifer Brady and Madison Scheer in Fall 2019
  • DeeDee Wright received an Urban Sustainability Research Fellowship for summer 2019
  • DeeDee Wright published her first paper in Advances in the Development of Human Resources in Feb 2019!
  • Dani Lin Hunter received a GDPE Small Grant for Graduate Research award in spring 2019!
2018
  • Hayley Bubb joined the lab in Fall 2018 and is co-advised by Dr. Paul Ode (BSPM). She also received a Colorado State Graduate Fellowship (GFELL)!
  • Lisa Pitot (lab alumna) will start a new position as Assistant Professor of Science Education at University of Wisconsin Lacrosse in Fall 2018!
If you are interested in joining our research group, please contact me: Meena.Balgopal@colostate.edu
updated March 2019