So the Gordon research conferences focus on a specific topic and bring together a small number of experts on that topic. I attended the one called Undergraduate Biology Education Research: Improving Diversity, Equity, and Learning in Biology Education. It was quite an experience. First off, the schedule was grueling with talks and activities from 8am-11pm every day!
But I also learned so much. I had no idea that there was so much work going on at every level to improve biology education. The small teaching colleges and community colleges were well represented, but there were also people from NSF, NIH, nonprofits, R1 curriculum developers, and even big business people. It gave me SO much to think about…
Since almost everyone there was an educator who thinks about inclusion, everyone was ridiculously friendly. I knew one person going in to the conference and left knowing almost 100! Everyone I met was passionate and inspiring. I also took advantage of all of the optional adventures every afternoon: see below 🙂
Broder Lab 