New Perspectives in Science Education

Dr. Melissa Caspary teaches botany, mycology, conservation biology, integrated science and biology to undergraduate students. She was awarded her doctorate degree from the Odum School of Ecology at the University of Georgia, where she performed research on plant communities of granite rock outcrop habitats in the Piedmont of the southeastern United States. Caspary’s research interests include the exploration of regional biogeographic change of rare plant species’ distributions due to climate change and disturbance, ecological community networks of plants and their pollinators in specialized habitats, and integrating active learning and technology into science education. She has published and presented on disturbance and invasion in granite rock outcrop plant communities, native plant propagation and habitat restoration in the southeastern United States, and the role of problem based learning and technology in science education. Before her time at GGC, Caspary served as a conservation ecologist and curator of conservation collections at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia. She also taught botany at Brenau University and environmental science at North Georgia University.

Area/s of Expertise: botany, mycology, conservation biology, integrated science and biology, science education