Elisabeth Swanson

Elisabeth Swanson served as director of the Montana State University Science/Math Resource Center from 1996-2012, a program that has been home to the Science Olympiad since 1985. She was a faculty member in education for nearly 30 years and one of the founders of the online Master of Science in Science Education, an intercollege-interdisciplinary degree sponsored by the Colleges of Education, Health & Human Development, Agriculture, Letters and Science, and the Graduate School.  Her extensive research and service focused on science and math education around Montana and beyond. Her emphasis of the importance of these topics on the broader K-12 education system has translated into escalating the importance of teaching university students how to become better educators of math and science. Swanson was an active participant in campus, regional and national efforts directed at instructional improvement for science and mathematics teacher preparation, undergraduate education in STEM fields, mentoring for early career K-12 teachers and university faculty and outreach to tribal college science and mathematics faculty and students. She served as PI or co-PI on several NSF grants on a variety of topics including student success, partnering with rural schools and science inquiry learning in K-12 classrooms.