“Four themes motivate my teaching philosophy and strategy: learning by doing, bringing theory and practice, incorporating environmental and climate justice, and building community.”
Jennifer da Rosa
DirectorM.A. in Environmental Sustainability & Management
Jennifer (Jenn) da Rosa, Ed.D. is the inaugural Director of the Environmental Sustainability and Management graduate program at Goucher College. She is an Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies with a specialization in climate change education. Dr. da Rosa has a background in geology, oceanography, and science education, specializing in climate change misconceptions. She advocates for the use of active and experiential learning to address earth and environmental science misconceptions. Her research interests include earth and environmental science education for adult learners, gender discrepancies in climate and environmental education, and behavioral economics as applied to climate and environmental issues.
Prior to arriving at Goucher College, Dr. da Rosa served as the Assistant Program Director for Johns Hopkins University’s M.S. in Environmental Sciences and Policy and M.S. in Energy Policy and Climate programs, taught as an instructor with the United States Naval Academy’s STEM Center for Education and Outreach, and served as a civilian oceanographer for the Naval Oceanographic Office’s Warfighting Support Center at Stennis Space Center, Mississippi.
Research, Scholarship, Creative Work in Progress
Read more about Jennifer's research on ResearchGate.
Publications
da Rosa, J. (2021). Comparing climate science misconceptions with worldview and cognitive reflection suggests poor understanding and motivated reasoning among undergraduates. Journal of Geoscience Education.
da Rosa, J. (2021). Activating communities of learning among online energy and environmental science graduate students with vlogging and scholar-practitioner interviews (Chapter 3). In J. Hoffman & P. Blessinger (Eds.), International Perspectives on Online Instruction (pp. 25-54). United Kingdom: Emerald Group Publishing.
da Rosa, J. (2019). Believing is Seeing: Exploring the link between worldview and climate science misconceptions among college undergraduates. ProQuest Dissertation.
Fees, R., da Rosa, J., Durkin, S., Murray, M., & Moran, A. (2018). Unplugged Cybersecurity: An approach for bringing computer science into the classroom. International Journal of Computer Science Education in Schools, 2(1). doi:10.21585/ijcses.v2i1.21
da Rosa, J. A., Durkin, S., Hetlyn, R., Moran, A. L., Keener, P., Haynes, S., & Ryan, M. (2015). Engineering to explore the ocean: A cooperative educators professional development workshop by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the United States Naval Academy. The Earth Scientist, 31(3), 9-15.
da Rosa, J. A., Durkin, S., Hetlyn, R., Murray, M., & Moran, A. L. (2015). Midshipmen-facilitated informal STEM education. Science Education & Civic Engagement: An International Journal, 7(2), 31-40.
Maguire, C., Jones, R., da Rosa, J. A., & Sheardy, R. D. (2011). Science, society, and sustainability: A certificate program (Chapter 13). In C. Middlecamp & A. Jorgensen (Eds.), Sustainability in the chemistry curriculum (Vol. 1087): American Chemical Society.
Maguire, C., da Rosa, J. A., & Sheardy, R. D. (2009). Implementing SENCER courses at Texas Woman’s University (Chapter 4). In R. D. Sheardy (Ed.), Science education and civic engagement: The SENCER approach (Vol. 1037): American Chemical Society.
Conference Papers & Panel Participation
da Rosa, J. (2022). Developing environmental, conservation, & climate-focused field courses for higher education. Presentation given at the North American Association for Environmental Education Conference.
Armstrong, A., da Rosa, J., & Varanasi, A. (2019). Activating Student Engagement & Learning with Powerful Visuals. Presentation given at the Critical & Creative Thinking Conference, University of South Florida St. Petersburg.
da Rosa, J. (2019). Cultural worldview and gender disparities in undergraduate climate science misconceptions. Presentation given at the North American Association for Environmental Education Conference.
da Rosa, J. (2019). Mapping undergraduate climate science misconceptions to learner worldview. Poster presented at the Change Agency as a Scholar Practitioner: Designing a Blueprint for Change June 2019 Poster Session, Northeastern University.
da Rosa, J., & Waitkus, B. (2016). STEM of Natural Hazards for K-5. Detroit Area Council of Teachers of Mathematics and the Metropolitan Detroit Science Teachers Association Annual Conference. Warren, MI.
da Rosa, J., & Waitkus, B. (2016). STEM of Natural Hazards for 6-8. Detroit Area Council of Teachers of Mathematics and the Metropolitan Detroit Science Teachers Association Annual Conference. Warren, MI.
Mason, C., Daniels, D., da Rosa, J., Durkin, S., Hetlyn, R., & Moran, A. (2016). Communicating STEM to Educators and Students in Informal Settings Using a Naval-Relevant Message. Poster presented at the The Ecosystem of Science Communication: Communicating the Science Solution, AAAS, Washington, DC.
Busiek, R. R., da Rosa, J., Durkin, S., Hetlyn, R., & Moran, A. (2015). Buoying Undergraduate Learning with Informal STEM Outreach. Poster presented at Washington Symposium and SENCER-ISE National Meeting, Washington, DC.
Busiek, R. R., da Rosa, J., Durkin, S., Hetlyn, R., & Moran, A. (2015). Facilitating Informal STEM Outreach: Gains and Challenges. Presentation given at the SENCER Washington DC Symposium, Washington, DC.
da Rosa, J., & Waitkus, B. (2015). Biomimicry. West Virginia Science Teacher Association’s Annual Conference. Flatwoods, WV.
da Rosa, J., & Waitkus, B. (2015). STEM Spectacular. West Virginia Science Teacher Association’s Annual Conference. Flatwoods, WV.
da Rosa, J. (2010). Climate Change and Natural Disasters: The SENCER approach to earth science. Presentation given at the American Chemical Society’s 21st Biennial Conference on Chemical Education, Denton, TX.
da Rosa, J., & Maguire, C. (2010). Disaster, Drought, Development and Degradation – Three innovative courses from SCI-Southwest. Poster and concurrent session given at the 2010 SENCER Summer Institute, Asheville, NC.
Maguire, C., da Rosa, J., Sheardy, R. D., & Staton, A. (2010). SENCER Center for Innovation – Southwest. Poster presented at the 2010 SENCER Washington DC Symposium, Washington, DC.
Shepard, L., Alvarez, J., Stockton, K., & da Rosa, J. (2010). Cultural and Environmental Effects of Opium Farming in Afghanistan. Poster presented at the 2010 SENCER Washington DC Symposium, Washington, DC.
Maguire, C., Peebles, L., da Rosa, J., & Sheardy, R. D. (2009). From Pilot to Parade in 2009: Expanding SENCER at TWU. Poster presented at the 2009 SENCER Summer Institute, Chicago, IL.
Sheardy, R. D., Maguire, C., & da Rosa, J. (2009). Science Education and Civic Engagement. Paper presented at the American Chemical Society’s 13th Annual Green Chemistry and Engineering Conference, College Park, MD.
Academic or Professional Associations
American Geophysical Union
International Association of Applied Psychology – Environmental Psychology Division
National Center for Science and Civic Engagement
Other Professional or Scholarly Activity
Reviewer for Journal of Geoscience Education.