Dr. K.C. Busch was selected to receive the NARST 2024 Early Career Research Award (ECRA). This honor recognizes Dr. K.C. Busch’s professional accomplishments as the most significant among other researchers nominated for the ECRA this year.

Dr. K.C. Busch has made significant contributions to science education through her novel research program. Her long-term career goal is to explore and advance educational experiences that empower individuals to engage in collective action to improve their lives and their communities. Dr. Busch’s work draws on research from the fields of science communication and environmental psychology toinvestigatethe language used to teach about climate change in educational settings, and how that framing affects youth perception of the problem and their capacity for creating solutions. Her current research is investigating the role of social relationships in environmental learning and action, using social network analysis. Through an NSF-funded CAREER grant, Dr. Busch is reconceptualizing scientific literacy at the community level, exploring how scientific information is used in communities to make decisions about climate change adaptation. She is also conducting research to understand and support the specialized knowledge and practices of educators who work in out-of-school settings–such as museums, science centers, zoos and aquaria. She has worked in partnership with nearly 35 informal science centers across the state to create an online program  to develop their capacity for evaluation. Dr. Busch is a first-generation college graduate.