Maryam Ghadiri

education specialist

Nature, education and art are my main areas of interest and I have passionately pursued them my whole life as well as in my current job which is a combination of all three. I design curricula for middle school students and the visually impaired at the Center for Global Soundscapes at Purdue University. The purpose of the curricula is to teach the target group concepts of soundscape ecology. My multi-modal curriculum covers this ecological topic through different hands-on activities and field work. For me, education is not just teaching science, it is also about the motivation and the interest. Teaching students how scientists work and how scientists make sense of the environment around them through data. I hope it motivates students to value science and encourage them to be future scientists.

Being a PhD student in an interdisciplinary program, ESE (Environmental Science and Engineering), I am gaining a better understanding of the power of communication and empathy among scientists. I am a member of the development team for a science communication group in Arizona State University called “Sci-Ranch” that designs different art modules for better communication between students and faculty in various fields.

I am a visual artist and painting is one of my favorite activities. I see the world in color and I believe that art and science can be interconnected as it inspires both scientists and artists.