Ayça K. Fackler​ Assistant Professor of Science Education from the University of Missouri​ will share her personal journey from a doctoral student to a successful faculty member at an R1 university, highlighting the challenges she has faced and the strategies she has used to overcome them. Drawing from her own experiences, Dr. Fackler will offer insights into balancing research, publishing, teaching, and personal growth in academia. Attendees will gain practical advice on navigating the academic path, building resilience, and thriving as future scholars. ​

Bio Dr. Fackler’s research centers on reimagining language, multimodality, and science practices to enhance science learning for students from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Her recent project, funded by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, explores how elementary students’ local knowledge and languages can be leveraged through placemaking pedagogies and futures thinking in climate change education. A first-generation college graduate and bilingual scholar, Dr. Fackler is also a Jhumki Basu and Sandra Abell Fellow.​