Rate My Professor Sara Brownell

Sara Brownell is President's Professor in the School of Life Sciences at Arizona State University, with an affiliation in the Center for Biology and Society. She earned a bachelor's degree in biology from Cornell University, a master's degree from The Scripps Research Institute, and a Ph.D. in biology from Stanford University, where she also completed a master's degree in education. Her doctoral research examined small heat shock proteins as anti-inflammatory therapeutics for neurological diseases such as multiple sclerosis and stroke. Brownell began her faculty career as a lecturer at Stanford University before serving as a postdoctoral researcher in science education at San Francisco State University and the University of Washington. She joined Arizona State University as an assistant professor in 2014, was promoted to associate professor in 2018, full professor in 2021, and President's Professor in 2023. In 2020, she founded the Research for Inclusive STEM Education Center at ASU, where she serves as director.

Brownell's research specializes in biology education and focuses on making undergraduate science learning environments more inclusive, with particular emphasis on course-based undergraduate research experiences, active learning, concealable stigmatized identities, and addressing gender gaps and challenges faced by LGBTQ+ students in science classrooms. She has received multiple honors, including the 2020 Arizona State University Committee for Campus Inclusion Catalyst Award, the 2020 National Organization of Gay and Lesbian Scientists and Technical Professionals LGBTQ+ Educator of the Year award, the 2021 National Association of Biology Teachers Evolution Education Award, the 2022 John A. Moore Lectureship, and election as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2022. Her key publications include studies on barriers to faculty pedagogical change, the inclusivity of course-based undergraduate research experiences, and factors influencing instructor decisions to reveal LGBQ identities in class. Brownell is recognized internationally for her contributions to discipline-based education research and efforts to improve equity in STEM education.