Lisa lundgren, phd
Postdoctoral research associate
University of Connecticut, neag school of education
Hi there, my name is Dr. Lisa Lundgren, I'm a social science researcher with a passion for data, Dungeons and Dragons, and discovery. My ~academic journey~ is pretty straightforward--I got my bachelor's degree in History with an emphasis on Museum Studies from Montana State University, decided that Montana was too wonderful to leave, and ended up staying at Montana State for a master's degree in Science Education. After working at a ski resort for a season, I (reluctantly) left the frosty Montana winter for sunshine and humidity, getting my PhD in Science Education from the University of Florida in 2018. I know, I know, you see Science Education and you think, "this lady studies science in schools!" Nah. My jam is looking at how people learn about science in literally every context except school. I want to know how people learn science from one another on the internet! in museums! at comic-cons! Currently, I'm a researcher at North Carolina State University, where I study how people learn about science in online spaces like Instagram, Twitter, and websites designed to help people find citizen science projects.
Alright, I think this is the part where I get to talk about nerdy stuff, right? Let's do it. I love data. Looking at spreadsheets, filtering the information in them, asking questions about the data, then creating graphs that help explain the data--these are a few of my favorite things. But I also love that straight-up nerdy ish. You wanna talk about Dungeons and Dragons, specifically why barbarian is the best class? I'm in. You want to play a board game that is literally anything other than Monopoly? Hook me up. You want to name every dinosaur we can think of? Awesome, let's start with Albertosaurus. How 'bout talking with folks at a convention about the relationship between Pokemon and fossils? Hello, I am THERE. I can't necessarily map the trajectory of my nerdy interests, maybe growing up an only child who was an introvert who had books and stuffed animals for friends makes up one of those points on the trajectory though.
With Cosplay for Science, I'm lucky--I'm the social scientist on the project, meaning I ask questions, like "how can people learn science from booths at comic-cons?" and get to talk with people about their nerdy interests! It's truly the best of both worlds here.