Distinguished Senior Lecturer
Diane's career has focused on secondary science education, but she work towards creating educational settings that support the growth and success of all students. She began this work as a classroom teacher and continues it now with pre-service and in-service teachers. She is a lifelong Rhode Islander with deep roots in my Portuguese heritage. In 1993, she received a Bachelor of Science degree with Honors in Biology from Brown University and explored a career in cancer research. Because of her passion for both science and working with adolescents, she pursued her Master of Science in Teaching degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Boston College. Towards the end of her 17-year career as a secondary science teacher, she earned a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction specializing in Science Education from Boston College. Prior to her current position as a Senior Lecturer at Brown, she was an Assistant Professor of Education specializing in STEM education at the University of New Hampshire. As the Director of the Brown Master of Arts in Teaching program for six years, her goal was to develop a program that prepares our graduate students to meet the multifaceted responsibilities of the teaching profession in a way that positively impacts their students and communities. Her work now has shifted solely to envisioning and creating experiences in science that foster the participation and persistence of underrepresented students in STEM. She accomplishes this by serving as a faculty member in teacher preparation, creating professional development opportunities for science teachers that support the implementation of reform-based and culturally responsive teaching approaches, and with her scholarly contributions to the field.
