Prof. Dr. Brian Donovan

Brian M. Donovan is an associate research professor at The Institute for Behavioral Genetics at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He holds a B.A. in biology from Colorado College, a M.A. in teaching from the University of San Francisco, and a M.S. in biology and Ph.D. in science education from Stanford University. His research explores how genetics education interacts with social-cognitive biases to influence how students make sense of complex biological and social phenomena. By translating this research into frameworks that inform science instruction, curriculum development, and teacher education, Brian hopes to create a generation of researchers, teachers, and curriculum writers who know how to teach about human difference in a more socially responsible manner. Brian’s scholarship in this area has been published in a variety of peer-reviewed journals, including Science, PLOS Biology, Human Genetics and Genomics Advances, The Journal of Research in Science Teaching, and Science Education. He was the recipient of the 2020 Early Career Research Award for the National Association for Research in Science Teaching, and his research has been reported on by The New York Times, The Atlantic/Undark Magazine, The Independent, BBC Radio, ABC Radio, Newsweek, Forbes, and Ed Week.