Staci Richard
Department of Energy
Capitol Hill, Office of Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT)
California – Grades 5-12, Biology, Physical Science, and Ocean Science
Staci Richard has been a science teacher at Laguna Blanca School, a small, K-12, independent school, in Santa Barbara, for the last 13 years. Her primary role has been teaching ninth grade Biology and AP Biology. In addition, she has also taught eighth grade Physical Science, Women’s Studies, fifth grade Ocean Science, Marine Biology, and her personal favorite, Senior Research Seminar. She has been the department chair for the last four years. Her biggest strength is a breadth of teaching experience. During the last fifteen years, she has taught both physical and life sciences at the elementary, middle school, high school, and AP levels. She has also developed curriculum at all of these levels.
Growing up in rural Northern Michigan, Staci found her way to Albion College, where she earned a BA in Biology and Geological Sciences. She has completed graduate work in paleo-climatology and oceanography at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and put in her time as a technician in a stable isotope laboratory, as well as working in Research and Development for World Minerals Corporation. Staci was fortunate to be among one of the first graduates of the University of California, Berkeley, Masters and Credential in Science and Mathematics Education (MACSME) program. The program was rigorous, challenging, and thought provoking. Students were presented with a range of educational issues, placed in a variety of schools, challenged with the complexities of educational research, but mostly students were prepared to teach, and teaching it has been ever since.
Her most recent pedagogical work has been focused on the question of how to effectively educate and motivate students to make the choice to become scientists and engineers? The innovation of which she is most proud was the organization of a course, Senior Research Seminar. The idea was to take top science students and expose them to anything and everything relating to science. Over the course of one semester students visited ten different labs both academic and industrial, heard from twelve different scientists, took a variety of fieldtrips and read scientific papers. With a diversity of topics ranging from black holes to nanoscience, from brain research to stem cells, from aeronautical engineering, marine conservation and medical research to purely academic research students began to grasp the complexity of science and the importance of embracing the multidisciplinary nature of science, technology, and engineering. Students were also exposed to areas of science they didn’t even know existed as high school students. She has worked hard to build relationships with members of the local scientific community in Santa Barbara. Every time she meets someone, even tangentially involved in science, the first question she asks is “Would you be willing to come and speak to my class?” She has been moved by the willingness of people: doctors, lab technicians, researchers, business people, academics, engineers, etc. to come and share their experiences.
Outside of the classroom, her main interests have been focused on teacher preparation and continued professional development and education. After fifteen years of teaching, her biggest and most important challenge is to keep current about the topics she teaches. She has attended workshops on astrophysics and a Bioengineering Insights Conference that addressed new nanotechnologies in a variety of fields. Staci feels this type of stimulation is essential for the growth and effectiveness of today’s teachers. She also recently initiated collaboration with a UCSB professor looking at STEM education with respect to young girls and their attitudes about science and science careers.
I hope to use my skills as an educator and someone who can communicate effectively with the scientific community to recruit students to become involved in STEM related fields. From her “teacher” perspective, educational policy that focuses on teacher recruitment, teacher content expertise, and teacher preparation coupled with the motivation of corporations, government agencies, and the extended scientific community to create challenging enrichment programs, volunteer work with students, educational outreach, and offer financial resources the future of STEM education and STEM fields is promising.