Dr. Christine Broussard

Areas of research interest

I have two main scholarly priorities, teaching and learning in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) higher education and developmental immunotoxicology. The goal of my research in teaching and learning is to create a more welcoming, inclusive, and diverse community within the sciences, to increase the number of students from marginalized groups pursuing careers in STEM related fields and thereby, improve the quality of STEM research and practice in the United States. To accomplish this goal, we must address two critical needs for success in STEM – sense of belonging and self-efficacy. The short-term objectives of this aspect of my scholarly work are 1) to document the impact of course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) on student learning, performance, retention, and participation in STEM and related majors; 2) to develop and train others, locally and at other undergraduate institutions, in the CURE approach applied to a variety of disciplines including and beyond STEM; 3) to develop and train others to create content that focuses less on specific individual pedagogies and more on what’s important — a sense of belonging and self-efficacy in STEM; and, 4) to develop and train others to apply multiple objective methods to evaluate the professional behaviors of teaching and student success.

My second research focus is developmental immunotoxicology (DIT). This field studies the impact of environmental toxicants on the embryological development of T cells in the immune system. Undergraduate researchers and I focus on the class of molecules termed endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs). The goal of my DIT research is to enhance our ability to evaluate the impact of environmental toxicants on T cell development and to make evidence-based decisions regarding the approval and release of manufactured chemicals into the environment. The short-term objectives of my DIT scholarly work are 1) to develop an assay system which allows high throughput analysis of chemicals of concern; 2) analyze a set of EDCs of concern, including potential mechanisms of action; 3) to explore the relationship between environmental justice, exposure disparities, and applied research; and, 4) to develop and train undergraduates in a full-immersion research experience in environmental health science.

Research in teaching and learning in STEM higher education enables me to improve curriculum on a local and national level, inspires me to continue innovating and reforming biology education, and provides an opportunity to improve STEM excellence through diversity and inclusion. My DIT research allows me to impact the discipline, to potentially remediate exposure disparities, and to train students to be competent, ethical, and compassionate scientists and community advocates.

Dr. Broussard’s scholarly work can be found at Google Scholar.