Susan Gomez Zwiep

Bio

Senior Science Educator, Director, Equitable Impact, Staff Advocate

Dr. Susan Gomez Zwiep joined BSCS in 2020 as a Senior Science Educator. She began her career in science education as a middle school science teacher in Los Angeles, CA, where she spent over 12 years working with English learners in urban schools. From 2005 to 2020, Susan served as faculty in the Science Education Department at California State University, Long Beach, where she taught courses in the undergraduate STEM pathway, teacher preparation, and the graduate program in Science Education. Susan was also a Regional Director for the K-12 Alliance@WestEd, where she contributed to high-quality professional development programs that supported K-12 educators in the areas of science and mathematics, including the CA NGSS Early Implementer Initiative.

Susan consistently works toward establishing equitable access for all students to rigorous, inquiry-based science instruction and supporting teachers in their journey to become advocates for students, science education, and their own professional development. Her research has focused on effective models for professional development programs for both K-12 teachers and university faculty and the integrated content designs and teaching models that meet the needs of diverse learners.

She has been published in both research and practitioner journals such as Science and Children, Science Scope, the Journal of Science Teacher Education, and the International Journal of Mathematics and Science Education. In 2011, Susan shared the Innovations in Teaching Science Teachers award from the Association of Science Teacher Education for her joint conference presentation “What about those left behind? A template for developing quality science lessons for English language learners”.

Susan holds a BA in Integrated Biology from the University of California, Berkeley, an MA in Education from Whittier College, and a PhD in Science Education from the University of Southern California.

When Susan is not working, she enjoys walking her two dogs, spending time with her husband and three daughters, and enjoying the pairing of an excellent meal with a fine wine.