Rachel Connolly's curriculum vita

Educational Background

• Currently pursuing her PhD in Science Education at Columbia University, Teachers College
• NASA Graduate Student Research Fellow in Astrophysics Education, Marshall Space Flight Center, Fall 2004-present
• Continuing Studies program, Astrophysics II, Columbia University, 1998
• BS, Physics and Astronomy, Denison University, 1996

Research Interests

• The use of visualizations and technology for learning and instruction in STEM fields
• Informal Education

Professional Activities

• Lead educational producer for Field Trip to the Moon planetarium program
• American Museum of Natural History - member and speaker at NASA Explorer Institute Focus Group
• Served as co-curator of Discovering the Universe, American Museum of Natural History's Moveable Museum exhibition
• Lead educational programmer on following large-scale events; Marsapalooza MER outreach, Astronomy Day, UN Space Week, Space Experiment Module Integration for STS-107

Professional Memberships

• Amateur Astronomy Association of New York City, Board Member, June 2004 September 2007
• National Science Teacher Association
• Sigma Pi Sigma, National Physics Honor Society
• Association of Astronomy Educators
• American Association of Physics Teachers, 1996-2001

Selected Publications

• Stroud,Groome, Connolly, and Sheppard, "Toward a Methodology for Informal Astronomy Education Research," Astronomy Education Review, 5(2), April 2007 (reprinted in Planetarian, 32(6), September 2007)
• Ultimate Space, 10 book series published by Scholastic (in press)
• Connolly, Rachel, et. al. "Tips from the Field," "The Science Teacher", January 2006.