Director of Berkeley-based Coalition Named Role Model

Carol Tang, director of the Coalition for Science After School, has been honored as one of 12 California women chosen as "Leading Women in STEM,” with STEM meaning science, technology, engineering and math.

Tang and the other women were honored at an awards ceremony at the California STEM Summit in San Diego Tuesday.

The Coalition for Science After School, headquartered at UC Berkeley's Lawrence Hall of Science, is an alliance of organizations and individuals seeking to strengthen after-school science programs for youth. 

The California STEM Summit was convened by the California STEM Learning Network, whose goal is to improve how science, technology, engineering and math are taught in California schools.

Tang and the 11 other honorees were recognized for "their achievements in advancing innovative and effective STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) education initiatives across the state and serving as exemplary role models for California women and girls," according to a statment on the STEM Summit website.

Tang, an El Cerrito resident who earned an undergraduate degree in paleontology from UC Berkeley and a Ph.D. in geological sciences from the University of Southern California, previously served as senior science educator at the California Academy of Sciences and was responsible for all museum programming and exhibition content development in the Steinhart Aquarium and natural history museum for the academy's 2008 re-opening. (See longer bio at the end of this article.)

 "I am so pleased that the California STEM Summit has recognized the importance of after school and out-of-school learning settings as a source of inspiration and engagement for young people of all backgrounds," Tang said in a statement. "My organization, the Coalition for Science After School, promotes the hands-on learning and youth-centered interactions which we know fosters lifelong interest in science and encourages children to pursue STEM careers."

The 12 women honored at the STEM Summit are:

• Dr. Joan Bissell, Teacher Education and Public School Programs, California State University Chancellor’s Office
• Sandra Birmingham, STEM Pipeline Outreach Director, California State University, Channel Islands
• Rachel Bondi, Chief of Mobile Innovation, Creative Artists Agency
• Assemblymember Susan Bonilla (CA-11)
• Dr. Pamela Clute, Assistant Vice Chancellor Educational and Community Engagement, University of California, Riverside
• Judy D’Amico, Senior Director of Engagement, Project Lead the Way
• Dawn Garrett, SAS Operations Director, Raytheon
• Dr. Susan Hackwood, Executive Director, California Council on Science and Technology
• Dr. Linda Katehi, Chancellor, UC Davis
• Dr. Helen Quinn, Professor Emerita, Stanford University
• Dr. Carol Tang, Director, Coalition for Science After School
• Nancy Taylor, San Diego County Office of Education/San Diego Science Alliance

Biography of Carol Tang from the Coaltion for Science After School:

Dr. Carol Tang is the Director of the Coalition for Science After School, a national alliance headquartered at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science. The Coalition is committed to bridging afterschool programs with science-rich organizations (such as universities, museums, zoos and corporations) to increase the quality and quantity of STEM in out-of-school settings for all youth. She speaks at conferences around the country and is active on social media disseminating promising practices across sectors. She serves on the Power of Discovery STEM2 Council for the California Afterschool Network, Champions Board for the National Girls Collaborative Project, Learning in Afterschool and Summer working group, review panel for Afterschool Matters journal, and three technical working groups for the federal Department of Education’s 21st Century Community Learning Centers. She was an invited participant to the Clinton Global Initiative America 2012 STEM education group and the National Academy of Sciences Summit on Assessment of Informal and Afterschool Science Learning held in Irvine in 2012.

She has a B.A. with honors in paleontology from UC Berkeley and a M.S. and Ph.D. in geological sciences from the University of Southern California.  She was an assistant professor of geology at Arizona State University and one of the first co-investigators with the NASA Astrobiology Institute before becoming the Senior Science Educator at the California Academy of Sciences in 2001.  For five years, she oversaw a number of teacher professional development, environmental education and citizen science programs. From 2006-2011, she oversaw public programs and was responsible for all museum programming and exhibition content development in the Steinhart Aquarium and natural history museum for the 2008 re-opening of California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco.

She is the author of several scientific papers in paleontology and astrobiology, the co-editor of a paleontology book from Columbia University Press and the author of Jurassic articles for the Encylopaedia Britannica online. She has received NASA funding support for astrobiological research in the Chihuahuan Desert of Mexico and National Science Foundation support for her field work in the Dominican Republic as well as public outreach efforts for coral-symbiont genetic research. She has served on the editorial board of the journal Geology, as an officer for the Pacific Section of the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences, and as a review panelist for the Institute of Museum and Library Sciences.