The Minority Health Disparities Initiative is presenting Rebecca Smith, from the University of California, San Francisco, as its final speaker of the academic year.

Smith will be giving her talk at the Nebraska Union, Colonial A-B at 10:30 a.m. April 28.

Smith started her career in science education as a scientist volunteer in Science and Health Education Partnership’s programs while a graduate student in biochemistry at UCSF. Her partnerships with extraordinary teachers and their students convinced her that this was a career path she wanted to pursue.

After completing her doctorate, Smith began to work in the Science and Health Education Partnership full time in 2000. In 2005, she was named co-director of the program.

Through her work, she has developed extensive experience developing and implementing teacher-scientist partnership programs, teaching doctoral students and postdoctoral fellows, and leading professional development for teachers. She has co-developed and taught two innovative courses that use active teaching techniques to help elementary and middle school teachers understand key concepts in biology and chemistry. Smith has extensive program evaluation, grant writing and administration experience.

She serves as principal investigator on the Science and Health Education Partnership’s National Institute of Health National Center for Research Resources Science Education Partnership award as well as grants from state and private funding agencies. Smith has also served on the advisory boards of other science education projects both locally and nationally.