While pursuing her PhD in chemistry at the University of Oregon, Chantal Balesdent, class of 2013, knew that she was passionate about sharing her love for science, but didn’t feel drawn to a traditional teaching career. So as graduation drew near, Chantal began looking for opportunities in informal science education.  Her search resulted in a position with Engineering is Elementary (EiE), a project of the National Center for Technological Literacy at the Museum of Science, Boston.  Now in her third year as a Professional Development Provider for EiE, Chantal trains elementary school teachers in curricula that encourage students to apply their science and math skills to engineering activities that are based on real-world technologies and problems.

A variety of experiences during her years here at the UO prepared Chantal for her current role, and in fact, it was variety that attracted her to the university’s chemistry doctoral program in the first place.  After graduating with an undergraduate degree in chemistry from Colby College in Waterville, Maine, she applied to graduate schools across the country.  Chantal says that when she visited Oregon, she was impressed by the wide range of research options the department had to offer, and by the opportunity she would have to rotate through labs and explore her interests as a first year student. Those explorations lead her to join the David Tyler lab, where her thesis research focused on the use of iron phosphines to turn nitrogen into ammonia, a process associated with the production of artificial fertilizer. Improving our understanding of this process at the molecular level can identify potential methods for reducing the high amount of energy required for fertilizer production, and result in less costly and more efficient ways to feed the planet.

Outside the research laboratory, Chantal became engaged in outreach programs.  She was an active member – and served a year as president – of UO Women in Graduate Sciences, an organization that focuses on the professional development of women in all disciplines of science by sponsoring workshops, speakers, scholarships and a community outreach program.  In addition, Chantal was selected for the National Science Foundation’s Graduate Teaching Fellows in K-12 Education Program (GK12), which connects universities with local schools. As a GK12 Fellow, Chantal spent two weeks per term as a “scientist-in-residence” in the Umatilla-Morrow school district in Eastern Oregon, assisting with a variety of inquiry-based science activities. Fellows also provided K-5 teacher workshops on science content and served as resource specialists, developing activities and modeling how scientists look at the world.

 The communication, curriculum development, and scientific expertise Chantal developed through her experiences at the UO now factor into her everyday work for EiE.  She serves as a sort of ambassador for science literacy, traveling around the country to present workshops that help educators become comfortable with engineering concepts while teaching them how to use EiE educational materials in their classrooms.

Chantal particularly appreciates the ripple effect built into this model of sharing her science – as she assists educators in broadening their science literacy, they in turn pass that literacy on to their young students, advancing the next generation’s understanding of how disciplines like math and science are relevant to their lives, and preparing them to make informed decisions as they address issues and challenges that effect themselves, their communities, and their world.

– by Leah O’Brien
Chemistry and Biochemistry Department