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Sara Brownell

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Sara Elaine Brownell
Alma materCornell University
The Scripps Research Institute
Stanford University
Scientific career
InstitutionsArizona State University
San Francisco State University
University of Washington
ThesisSmall heat shock proteins as novel anti-inflammatory therapeutics for neurological diseases : multiple sclerosis and stroke (2011)

Sara Elaine Brownell is an American biology education researcher who is a President's Professor at Arizona State University. Her research looks to make undergraduate science teaching more inclusive. She was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2022.

Early life and education

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Brownell was an undergraduate student in biology at Cornell University.[1] She moved to The Scripps Research Institute, where she worked toward a master's degree.[citation needed] She joined Stanford University as a doctoral researcher, studying small heat shock proteins (sHSPs) as anti-inflammatory therapeutics.[2] She found that certain sHSPs were protective in mouse models of multiple sclerosis and stroke. In particular, deficiency of Alpha B crystallin (CRYAB) is associated with worse disease outcome in stroke patients.[3] She simultaneously earned a master's degree in education at Stanford University.[citation needed] After completing her doctorate, Brownell joined the faculty at Stanford as a lecturer in biology and developed inquiry-based lab courses.[1][4] She worked at both the San Francisco State University and University of Washington as a postdoctoral researcher in science education.[citation needed]

Research and career

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Brownell studies biology education: how biology students learn and how biology educators can develop more effective and inclusive ways to teach.[5][6] She was appointed an assistant professor at Arizona State University in 2014. She was promoted to associate professor in 2018, full Professor in 2021, and President's Professor in 2023. In 2020, she founded the university's Research for Inclusive STEM Education Center where her research focuses on concealable stigmatized identities in science.[7]

Brownell has investigated the origins of the gender gaps in science, with a specific focus on achievement and participation in biology.[8] Her research has shown that male students are more self-confident than their female counterparts in their science classes.[9][10] These differences in self-perception can impact motivation and participation.[9] She identified that undergraduates who experience a positive lab environment are considerably more likely to complete a degree in STEM.[11] She has investigated how students from marginalized groups experience active learning, and why educators from underrepresented groups may disclose their identities to students.[12][13] In particular, Brownell showed that active learning forces students to interact with one another, which can make LGBTQ+ students feel like they have to "come out".[14][15]

Brownell identified that there is a cultural disconnect between secular college educators and often more religious college students.[16][17][18] Together with PhD student Elizabeth Barnes, Brownell developed strategies to help educators reduce any conflicts between the teaching of evolution and holding of religious beliefs.[16] Barnes and Brownell showed that it was possible to acknowledge that theological questions being with "why", whilst science attempts to answer "how".[16]

Awards and honors

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Selected publications

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  • Sara E Brownell; Kimberly D Tanner (1 January 2012). "Barriers to faculty pedagogical change: lack of training, time, incentives, and...tensions with professional identity?". CBE: Life Sciences Education. 11 (4): 339–346. doi:10.1187/CBE.12-09-0163. ISSN 1931-7913. PMC 3516788. PMID 23222828. Wikidata Q36452077.
  • Gita Bangera; Sara E Brownell (1 January 2014). "Course-based undergraduate research experiences can make scientific research more inclusive". CBE: Life Sciences Education. 13 (4): 602–606. doi:10.1187/CBE.14-06-0099. ISSN 1931-7913. PMC 4255347. PMID 25452483. Wikidata Q34629457.
  • Sara E Brownell; Jordan V Price; Lawrence Steinman (15 October 2013). "Science Communication to the General Public: Why We Need to Teach Undergraduate and Graduate Students this Skill as Part of Their Formal Scientific Training". Journal of undergraduate neuroscience education : JUNE : a publication of FUN, Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience. 12 (1): E6–E10. ISSN 1544-2896. PMC 3852879. PMID 24319399. Wikidata Q37367739.
  • Carly Busch, Katelyn Cooper, Sara Brownell (20 July 2023) "Women drive efforts to highlight concealable stigmatized identities in U.S. academic science and engineering" PLOS One

References

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  1. ^ a b "Sara Elaine Brownell". explorecourses.stanford.edu. Retrieved 2022-04-03.
  2. ^ Brownell, Sara E.; Becker, Rachel A.; Steinman, Lawrence (2012-05-01). "The Protective and Therapeutic Function of Small Heat Shock Proteins in Neurological Diseases". Frontiers in Immunology. 3: 74. doi:10.3389/fimmu.2012.00074. ISSN 1664-3224. PMC 3342061. PMID 22566955.
  3. ^ University, © Stanford; Stanford; California 94305. "Small heat shock proteins as novel anti-inflammatory therapeutics for neurological diseases : multiple sclerosis and stroke". purl.stanford.edu. Retrieved 2022-04-03.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ Stanford, © Stanford University; Notice, California 94305 Copyright Complaints Trademark (2010-06-08). "2010 Cuthbertson, Dinkelspiel, Gores awards honor faculty, students and staff". Stanford University. Retrieved 2022-04-03.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ "MGSE - Sara Brownell". www.uni-muenster.de. Retrieved 2022-04-03.
  6. ^ "Learning is more effective when active". ScienceDaily. Retrieved 2022-04-03.
  7. ^ "New ASU research center promotes inclusive STEM education". ASU News. 2020-09-28. Retrieved 2022-04-03.
  8. ^ "More than half of biology majors are women, yet gender gaps remain in science classrooms". EurekAlert!. Retrieved 2022-04-03.
  9. ^ a b Chokshi, Niraj (2018-04-07). "Do Men Think They're Better at Science Than Women Do? Well, Actually …". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-04-03.
  10. ^ Blumberg, Yoni (2018-04-13). "Study: Men overestimate their intelligence in science class. Women sell themselves short". CNBC. Retrieved 2022-04-03.
  11. ^ University, Arizona State. "Study shows positive lab environment critical for undergraduate success in research". phys.org. Retrieved 2022-04-03.
  12. ^ "Brownell named 2020 LGBTQ+ Educator of the Year". Global Institute of Sustainability and Innovation. Retrieved 2022-04-03.
  13. ^ Cooper, Katelyn M.; Brownell, Sara E.; Gormally, Cara (2019). "Coming Out to the Class: Identifying Factors That Influence College Biology Instructor Decisions About Revealing Their LGBQ Identities in Class". Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering. 25 (3): 261–282. Bibcode:2019JWMSE..25..261C. doi:10.1615/JWomenMinorScienEng.2019026085. ISSN 1072-8325. S2CID 198263114.
  14. ^ a b "ASU associate professor named 2020 LGBTQ+ Educator of the Year". ASU News. 2020-02-20. Retrieved 2022-04-03.
  15. ^ Cooper, Katelyn M.; Brownell, Sara E. (2016-09-01). "Coming Out in Class: Challenges and Benefits of Active Learning in a Biology Classroom for LGBTQIA Students". CBE: Life Sciences Education. 15 (3): ar37. doi:10.1187/cbe.16-01-0074. PMC 5008884. PMID 27543636.
  16. ^ a b c "ASU alumna, professor receive 2021 Evolution Education Award". ASU News. 2021-11-23. Retrieved 2022-04-03.
  17. ^ "ASU alumna, professor receive 2021 Evolution Education Award | University Senate". usenate.asu.edu. Retrieved 2022-04-03.
  18. ^ "Evolution and religion: New insight into instructor attitudes in Arizona". EurekAlert!. Retrieved 2022-04-03.
  19. ^ "Catalyst Award | Office of Inclusive Excellence". inclusion.asu.edu. Retrieved 2022-04-03.
  20. ^ "ASU alumna, professor receive 2021 Evolution Education Award". ASU News. 2021-11-23. Retrieved 2022-04-03.
  21. ^ "Fall 2021: Society-Wide Newsletter – SICB Newsletter". Retrieved 2022-04-03.
  22. ^ "2021 AAAS Fellows | American Association for the Advancement of Science". www.aaas.org. Retrieved 2022-04-03.
  23. ^ "AAAS honors 7 ASU faculty as lifetime fellows". ASU News. 2022-01-26. Retrieved 2022-04-03.
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