Helping high school students understand and even enjoy chemistry is incredibly challenging, and even more rewarding. My goal is for my students to see themselves as scientists!”
Melissa’s Story
Teaching Discipline
Chemistry
Why Chemistry
Chemistry can be an incredibly challenging subject for students to understand, but it’s also an elegant and fascinating area of study. Getting to help students see that beauty and connect with the challenges of chemistry is so incredibly rewarding.
Professional Experience
Prior to pursuing education as a profession, Melissa worked at a small butterfly research center in Costa Rica. After experiencing life in the jungle, Melissa returned to the United States to pursue her Master of Arts with Certification program at Stanford University. Upon completion of the program, she taught chemistry full time in Atherton, California before relocating to Oregon, where she taught chemistry at McKay High School in Salem and South Albany High School in Albany. Since leaving the K-12 classroom, she has worked with student teachers as an instructor and supervisor at Oregon State University. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Science and Math Education at Oregon State. Her research focus is on how and why teachers integrate professional learning into their teaching practice.
Hobbies
When Melissa isn’t teaching, she is spending time with her three kids, hiking in the beautiful Oregon rain, or reading for fun.
Academic Background
- Oregon State University (PhD in Science and Math Education, Expected June 2026)
- Stanford University (Master of Arts in Education, Teaching of Chemistry)
- University of California, Santa Cruz (Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology)