Meghan Groome, PhD

Executive Director, Education & Public Programs, New York Academy of Sciences

Meghan Groome is the executive director of education and public programs at the New York Academy of Sciences, which includes the STEM Afterschool Mentoring Program, Science Alliance, the NeXXt Scholars Program, Science Teachers Initiative, the Academy's education web portal, and a portfolio of special projects. Groome is also the director of Science & the City, the public gateway to the New York Academy of Sciences.

Groome is an adjunct assistant professor at SUNY Environmental Science and Forestry and the principal investigator and co-investigator on a $2.95M collaborative grant between the Academy and the State University of New York (DRL 1223303). Groome joined the Academy in July of 2010 after spending almost three years as a consultant to the American Museum of Natural History. While at AMNH, Groome worked on special projects in the Government Relations and Education Departments. Previous to her work at AMNH, Groome was a senior policy analyst with the National Governors Association and worked on then-Gov. Janet Napolitano's Innovation America initiative and co-authored Building a STEM Agenda, a framework for state's and large organizations to improve their science education pipelines from birth through graduate school.

Groome completed her PhD at Teachers College Columbia University in science education with a focus on urban science education and reform, and conducted field research with Dr. Ann Rivet and Dr. Angela Calabrese-Barton at middle schools across New York City. Her academic work includes learning in informal environments, professional development for teachers, and specific classroom strategies for increasing equity and access in schools. She has authored numerous articles and academic presentation on those topic areas. During graduate school, Groome co-founded uPublic, an education consulting company focused on local, national, and international education reforms including large-scale policy reforms in developing countries and school design. In addition, Groome was an Education Policy Fellow for the Institute for Educational Leadership.

Groome graduated from The Colorado College in 2000 with a major in biology and theater and is a certified science teacher with experience teaching pre-K through graduate school. She has taught chemistry, physics and biology, and was the founding biology teacher at a start-up school in Paterson, N.J. She frequently speaks on the topics of education policy, women in science and integrating scientific resources into the education system.