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Emily Sprowls

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Assistant Professor / Faculty of Education and Professional Studies - Schulich School of Education
Position
Full-time Faculty
Extension
4167
Website
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About
Emily’s work aims to collaborate with youth, teachers, and scientists to address students’ concerns about environmental and climate justice. Her research interests reflect her experiences as a K-12 science teacher and environmental educator in alternative, informal, and classroom settings.  Emily has worked on justice-oriented curriculum development and teacher training with schools and environmental organizations throughout North America, including the USA, Mexico, and Panama, thanks to a Fulbright Distinguished Teaching Award and the National School Reform Faculty.  She studies collaborative, transdisciplinary learning in community-based initiatives that focus on student-led inquiry, such as after-school STEAM clubs and participatory science programs.  She spends her free time hiking with her dog and trying to keep wildlife out of the school garden.   
Education
BA Biology, Kenyon College
MESc Social Ecology, Yale School of Environment
Teacher Certification, Southern Connecticut State University
Research
Areas of Specialization:

Environmental and Sustainability Education

Science teacher education

Informal science learning

Youth-led inquiry 

Place-based curriculum development

Research Interests:  

Justice-oriented science pedagogies

STEAM education

Citizen science and science outreach

Participatory research with youth

Community-university research partnerships

Collaborative learning

Current & Future Research:

‪‪Informal learning for sustainability science in STEM programs: Navigating emotions and identities to develop relational competencies. SSHRC Insight Development Grant (2024-2027). Collaborator with Allison Gonsalves, Blane Harvey, and Diane Dechief, McGill University.

Árboles Bocú: Indigenous forestry education. Comarca Emberá and the Panama Ministry of Education (2025). Collaborator with Joseph Levitan at the Participatory Ecology Laboratory of McGill University and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute.

 

 

Publications

Wachs, J., Harvey, B., Leite, S., Sprowls, E. D. (2025) Co-creating pathways to social and ecological justice in higher education: The possibilities and pitfalls of collaborative course design. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSHE-09-2024-0662

Gonsalves, A. J., Sprowls, E. D., & Wiseman, D. (2021). Teaching Novice Science Teachers Online: Considerations for Practice-Based Pedagogy. LEARNing Landscapes, 14(1), 111–123. https://doi.org/10.36510/learnland.v14i1.1049

Gonsalves. A., Calvacante, A., Sprowls, E. D., Iacono, H. (2021) “Anybody can do science, if they’re brave enough”: Understanding the role of science capital in science majors’ identity trajectories into and through post-secondary science. Journal of Research Science in Teaching. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21695

Sprowls, E. D. (2020). Collaborative learning tools to foster inclusive participation and sense of belonging in a microbiology outreach partnership. Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education, 21(1), 4. https://doi.org/10.1128/jmbe.v21i1.2079

Peer-Reviewed Book chapters

Sprowls, E. D. (2022). Bridging Boundaries Between ESE and Science Education Research and Practice through Collaborative Learning for Climate Justice. In Challenges for environmental and sustainability education research in times of climate crisis (pp. 133–136). Universiteit Gent. https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8768733/file/8768735.pdf

Upcoming Book chapters/Sampled Guest Lectures and Conferences

Rahm, J., Polman, J. L., Adams, J., Stamatis, K., Hernandez, J. R., Luna, T. B., Luna, A. R., Kayumova, S., Harper, A., Bereavalez, E., Achilova, F., Richards, G., Ehret, C., Mannard, E., St. Victor, K. A., Rogers, C. D., Sprowls, E.D., & Gonsalves, A. (2023). Centering critical youth research methodologies of praxis and care in post-pandemic times: From respectful relations and dialogue towards new imaginaries. In Blikstein, P., Van Aalst, J., Kizito, R., & Brennan, K. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 17th International Conference of the Learning Sciences - ICLS 2023 (pp. 1622-1629). International Society of the Learning Sciences.https://repository.isls.org//handle/1/9983