Dr. Nicole Weber is an artful scientist, creating holistic ways to teach and study STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) topics. She teaches for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Lesley.
As the world becomes more culturally and biologically interconnected, people are becoming less connected to their natural surroundings. Through an intersection of conservation biology (research) and science education (application), Nicole bridges students’ scientific understanding to local issues in their community and natural environment on a personal, local, and global scale. She looks for ways of connecting conservation to students’ local community, through authentic experiences focused on social and environmental issues, to support students in developing a better understanding of common scientific misconceptions and the interplay of social and environmental issues.
In partnership with Susan Rauchwerk, Nicole also co-directs the EcoNet Lab, a creative space where educators can connect with scientists to create a learning community that supports local environmental literacy efforts, and has created a critical exploratory space for young minds (STEAM WonderLab). Their collaboration has begun a new dialogue around the embedded pedagogical goals within their science methods courses that ignited new research methods to study the pedagogical shift in a teacher’s experience.
Realizing the need and benefit of making the learning path more visual for students, Nicole enrolled in Lesley's MFA in Visual Arts Program. As Nicole shifts and finds comfort within the art discourse, her work looks at the female experience within the science disciplinary silo. Nicole is also a lead on the Mt. Auburn Citizen Science project and provides support for STEAM Beans.
Interests
- Science Education
- Engineering Education
- STEAM (Science + Technology + Engineering + Art + Math) Education
- Critical Exploration
- Applied Conservation
- Environmental Justice
- Play
- Anthropocene
- Ecological Teaching and Learning
- Environmental Education/Art
- Womanhood
- Earth/Land Art
- Installation
- Sense of Self and Place Exploration
Education
- PhD, University of Massachusetts, Boston
- Postdoctoral Research, Engineering Education, Purdue University
- MFA in Visual Arts, Lesley University