Bridging Disciplines: MSU English faculty member earns elite STEM education fellowship
Contact: Sarah Nicholas
STARKVILLE, Miss.—Mississippi State University’s Lourdes Cardozo-Gaibisso is a selection for one of only five 2024 Early-Career Research Fellows in Education Research by the Gulf Research Program of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. This prestigious fellowship highlights a select few researchers in the nation for their innovative contributions to STEM and environmental education in the Gulf of Mexico region or Alaska.
An assistant professor of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages and linguistics in the English department and a research fellow at the Social Science Research Center, Cardozo-Gaibisso leads the Science Literacy for Equity Research Collaboratory. Her work integrates systemic functional linguistics with science literacy and culturally sustaining pedagogies. Through projects like SMILE––Scientific and Multilingual Inquiry Learning in Engineering––and SISTEMAS––Stimulating Immersive Science Through Engaging Multilingual Scenarios––she promotes accessible, “place-based” STEM education tailored to multilingual learners.
By focusing on the impact of “sense-of-place” in education, Cardozo-Gaibisso’s research aligns with the GRP Early-Career Research Fellowship’s mission to support emerging leaders as they explore new ideas and address critical challenges in the Gulf region.
“I am grateful for this award and the opportunity to advance my research agenda, as well as for the learning and collaboration it provides,” Cardozo-Gaibisso said. “This fellowship will help me develop and expand my ongoing projects in justice-oriented science education for multilingual learners and initiate new ones. It will support and enhance my capacity to implement place-based science education programs that address environmental and societal challenges impacting our state. Additionally, it will provide a network of colleagues and a new platform to share my work.”
Cardozo-Gaibisso said the fellowship will support her efforts to mentor students and expand projects focused on enhancing science literacy and assessment for multilingual youth, emphasizing the importance of mentorship and peer support in advancing research that benefits communities.
Recognized as a promising scholar by the North American Systemic Functional Linguistics Association in 2023, Cardozo-Gaibisso earned her Ph.D. in language and literacy education from the University of Georgia and previously taught in her home country of Uruguay.
For more information about the Gulf Research Program and its initiatives, visit www.nationalacademies.org/news/2024/12/gulf-research-program-announces-early-career-research-fellows-in-education-research-and-environmental-protection-and-stewardship.
Part of the College of Arts and Sciences, more information about the Department of English is available at www.english.msstate.edu.
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