Susan A. Kirch
Susan A. Kirchis an Associate Professor (Elementary Science Education)in the Department of Teaching and Learning. Professor Kirch is a science educator and a biologist. Her current research consists of two related themes: investigations of teaching and learning science process skills in urban elementary schools, and studies of teacher learning in the areas of science and inclusion. Kirch has participated in a variety of initiatives designed to bring teachers, K-12 students, educational researchers and scientists together to study access to science and the nature of scientific inquiry. She recently served as a co-principal investigator on a National Science Foundation grant to disseminate research on gender equitable practices in science education. Kirch has taught at UC Berkeley Extension, Wright State University, Queens College, and PS/IS499 in Flushing. She earned a baccalaureate degree with honors in biochemistry at Mount Holyoke College in 1989 and a doctorate in cellular and developmental biology from Harvard University in 1996 where she made original contributions to the field of immunology. She became interested in science education during her involvement with the Science and Health Education Partnership at the University of California, San Francisco where she was a post-doctoral scholar studying the development of the nervous system from 1997-2001.