The Triangle Coalition for Science and Technology Education has announced the selection of Staci Richard, a science teacher at Laguna Blanca School in Santa Barbara, as a 2010-11 Einstein Fellow.

The prestigious Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship Program offers elementary and secondary science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) teachers with a demonstrated excellence in teaching an opportunity to serve in the national education or public policy arenas.

One of 32 teachers serving this year, Richard was carefully selected from a nationwide pool of applicants.

During the past 15 years, Richard has taught and developed curricula for both physical and life sciences at the elementary, middle school, high school and AP levels. She says the innovation of which she is most proud is the Senior Research Seminar course, which accepts top science students and exposes them to academic and industrial labs, scientists, field trips and scientific papers on diverse topics.

She says that every time she meets someone even tangentially involved in science, the first question she asks is, “Would you be willing to come and speak to my class?”

“I have been moved by the willingness of doctors, lab technicians, researchers, business people, academics and engineers to come and share their experiences,” Richard said.

Richard earned a bachelor’s degree in biology and geological sciences from Albion College in Michigan. She has completed graduate work in paleo-climatology and oceanography at UCSB.

She was one of the first graduates of the rigorous and challenging UC Berkeley Masters and Credential in Science and Mathematics Education (MACSME) program. Richards is collaborating with a UCSB professor looking at STEM education with respect to young girls and their attitudes about science and science careers.

— Kathryn Culbertson is the Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship Program manager for the Triangle Coalition for Science and Technology Education.