Destinee Cooper awarded STEM fellowship

A Ph.D. student in engineering and science education has added to her list of impressive credentials with another accolade.

Destinee Cooper, who is originally from Anderson, has been selected for one of 15 annual fellowships with the Community for Advancing Discovery Research in Education (CADRE). The honor comes from the National Science Foundation (NSF).

“In the coming year, the new CADRE Fellows will explore career pathways, research dissemination and use, community building and collaboration, and research funding,” according to the NSF. “They will engage in experiences such as peer mentoring and a mock DRK-12 proposal review led by an NSF program director. They will also collaborate with one another on a career-development project.”

Cooper’s credentials also include a master’s degree in chemistry education from Stanford University, experience as a Knowles teaching fellow and placement in Clemson’s Bridge to Doctorate Graduate Fellowship program.

Her research focuses on culturally relevant pedagogy in chemistry and advancing equity in STEM education. Cooper’s research advisor is Matthew Voigt, an assistant professor in the Department of Engineering and Science Education.

Cooper is currently a graduate researcher on an NSF S-STEM Hub project called Practices and Research on Student Pathways in Education from Community College and Transfer Students in STEM.
In that role, she examines how chemistry faculty understand and implement culturally relevant practices to support STEM transfer students.

“The CADRE Fellows program offers a unique opportunity for early career researchers to network with and learn from NSF-funded STEM education awardees from across the country,” said EDC’s Catherine McCulloch, who oversees the program along with Terrell Morton and Jenn Stiles. “It’s an honor to coordinate a program that, in part, is focused on broadening participation within the research community.”

For the full list of the 2024 CADRE Fellows, or to learn more about the program, go to www.cadrek12.org.