Karin Lohwasser is an Associate Teaching Professor in the Department of Education and the program director of the CalTeach/Science and Mathematics Initiative. Her work centers on supporting pre- and in-service teachers in creating safe, challenging, and active classrooms where students from all backgrounds can engage in complex, relevant science learning through Ambitious Science Teaching practices. She is especially interested in collaborating with educators to integrate climate change and environmental justice into the curriculum, promoting student agency toward a sustainable future. Her most recent research examined the experiences and learning opportunities available to pre-service teachers during their clinical experiences in their host classrooms.
Before joining UCSB, Dr. Lohwasser was a researcher and instructor at the University of Washington, where her doctoral research focused on science teachers’ professional learning communities and their use of specialized science knowledge for teaching. She also worked as a science coach in teacher education, taught immigrant students at Seattle World School, and developed professional development for teachers at the Institute for Systems Biology - Logan Center for Education.
Throughout her career, Dr. Lohwasser has drawn upon her experience as a classroom teacher. For 12 years, she taught biology and chemistry to students in grades 5–13 at public schools in Germany and at the German School London (UK). She also served as director and executive producer for science media at the Medieninstitut der Länder (FWU, Germany).