in education, Volume 31, Number 3, Autumn 2026

Author and Guest Editor Biographies

Puvithira Balasubramaniam is a PhD student in the Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, located on Treaty One Territory and homeland of the National Red River Métis. As a first-generation Tamil-Canadian student, science educator, and researcher, she engages with narrative inquiry to critically explore how Tamil-Canadian students navigate and negotiate their hyphenated identities and worlds, particularly within science education. Puvithira’s research aims to emphasize embracing a pluralistic society through critical approaches centering decoloniality, intersectionality, relationality, and ongoing self-reflexivity.

G. Michael Bowen, PhD, has taught science in public and private schools from Grades 5 to 13 in both rural and urban settings. He has degrees in science, journalism, sociology, and education which inform his work as an associate professor at Mount Saint Vincent University (Halifax, Nova Scotia). His university teaching includes science/STEM education methods, research methods, curriculum theory, identity theory, critical media literacy, environmental education, and action research. His research interests include enculturation to science practices (inquiry, graphical and data literacy), news/entertainment media and science/education, and science fairs. His current research is on the use of STEM technologies with young children, AI and (science) education, and citizen science project participation.

Carol Brown, PhD, is an assistant professor of Secondary Science Education at the University of Alberta. Carol has recently completed her PhD in Secondary Education (degree conferral: November 2026) and possesses an MEd, BEd, and BSc. Carol has worked as a high school science teacher in Alberta and New Brunswick, as well as a sessional instructor and educational developer in post-secondary contexts. Carol’s research interests relate to how science education in formal (e.g., K-12 and post-secondary) and informal (e.g., libraries, science centres, social media campaigns) contexts can respond to science and health misinformation.

Frank Deer, PhD, is a professor in the Faculty of Education of the University of Manitoba. Frank is Kanienkeha’ka from Kahnawake, a community that lies just south of Tiotia’ke in the eastern region of the Rotinonshón:ni Confederacy. Frank earned a PhD in Educational Administration from the University of Saskatchewan. Frank studies Indigenous language education and Indigenous religious and spiritual orientations in schools. Frank has previously served as a classroom teacher in Northern Manitoba and in the Inner City of Winnipeg.

Steffie Dmello is a PhD candidate and part-time professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Ottawa. She was born in India and has a background in Zoology (BSc., MSc.) and Education (BEd, MEd). Her research focuses on exploring the relational dynamics between children and more-than-humans by employing diverse methodologies such as multispecies ethnography. She aims to challenge the dualistic perspectives in education by emphasizing the interconnectedness of humans and more-than-humans.

Norris Igbinosa Erhabor, PhD, is a senior lecturer at the University of Benin, Nigeria, and an internationally engaged researcher in environmental and science education. His interdisciplinary research spans environmental sustainability, climate change adaptation, conservation behaviour, environmental psychology, and innovative low-cost learning solutions. He has received competitive international funding and fellowships, including the Open AIR Queen Elizabeth Scholars Award, International Council for Canadian Studies Award, British Ecological Society Grant, amongst others. His work connects research, education, and community action, with extensive experience in international collaboration, grant development, and translating evidence into practical solutions for sustainability and environmental challenges.

Xavier Fazio, EdD, is a professor of education in the Department of Educational Studies at Brock University and an affiliate member of the Environmental Sustainability Research Centre. His research focuses on science and environmental sustainability education, teacher education and development, STEM curriculum and assessment, and complexity and systems thinking. He collaborates with international research partners and has received funding from SSHRC and other government and nonprofit agencies. Dr. Fazio recently led a multi-year SSHRC Insight Grant on Science Education and Local Communities and served as an associate editor of the Journal of Science Teacher Education.

Emily Krushelnycky is a PhD student, sessional instructor in the Department of Educational Studies at Brock University, research assistant, and occasional elementary teacher. Her research explores socioscientific issues in education at the elementary (K–5) level, child development, science education, and learning theory. Drawing on both academic and practical experience, Emily’s work contributes to educational discourse by examining the ways in which young learners engage with complex scientific and societal issues, and how development theory can inform classroom practice.

Michelle Leonard is a settler scholar and PhD candidate in the Faculty of Education at the University of Ottawa. With a background in Western science (BSc, MSc), her current research explores how youth and adults in informal outdoor education settings story their relationships with the natural and more-than-human world, and how Indigenous storywork can expand this understanding of kinship and help re-story relationship with the more-than-human world.

Floriane Lévéder is a PhD candidate, teacher and part-time professor. She was born in France and has a background in political sciences (BPol) and education (BEd, MEd). Her research seeks to move beyond a simplified policy-practice gap in socioscientific issues education through innovative multi-case studies grounded in ecological and complexity thinking, recognizing professional learning as a complex, ‘wicked’ problem that resists simple solutions.

Peiki Loay holds an MEd from the Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba. She is also a science educator in the Manitoba public school system. Her research interests include justice-oriented science pedagogies, Indigenous science perspectives, the role of science educators in reconciliation, queering science through wonder, anti-racism and (re)centring marginalized voices through (counter)storytelling. As a teacher and scholar, Peiki walks alongside educators locally and provincially in the areas of treaty and critical social justice to foster courageous, accountable spaces of belonging for all learners.

Lilian Pozzer, PhD, a co-editor of this special issue, is an associate professor and Department Head in Curriculum, Teaching and Learning at the University of Manitoba. Lilian has extensive experience with multimodal microanalysis of interaction and communication in science classrooms, gesture-speech integration and visual representations (inscriptions) in science teaching and learning, and curriculum analyses. Lilian is interested in sociocultural studies in science education and the rethinking, restructuring, and reenactment of inter- and intra-species relations as they apply to teaching, learning, and research in science education for social and environmental justice.

Latika Raisinghani, PhD, a co-editor of this special issue, is an assistant professor with the University of Winnipeg and an adjunct professor with the University of Manitoba. Her interdisciplinary research and teaching focuses on culturally responsive science and mathematics education, critical analysis of curriculum, instruction and assessment, and understanding the nature of science. Latika’s current research projects explore teachers’ perspectives of new science curriculum and the impact of instructional language on science teaching in Manitoba. She is an active member of the Science Education Research Group of Canada, an active reviewer for various educational journals, an editorial board member of the Australian Journal of Environmental Education, and a consulting editor for in education.

Giuliano Reis, PhD, is an associate professor at the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Education. His research focuses broadly on the intersection of science and environmental education. His publications include International Perspectives on the Theory and Practice of Environmental Education: A Reader (Springer, 2018), Sociocultural Perspectives on Youth Ethical Consumerism (Springer, 2018), and Ethics in Science Education: Theoretical and Actionable Paths for Meaningful Transformations (Springer, 2027). He is married to Juliana Reis and together they have two daughters: Ana-Julia and Maria-Luiza Reis. He is also the grandfather of little Sofia.

Erin Sperling, PhD, is an Ontario certified teacher and an assistant professor in the Faculty of Education at Wilfrid Laurier University in Ontario. She is a settler and a guest on Turtle Island. Her doctorate in curriculum studies and teacher development was received from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto, where she focused on food justice from an ecojustice lens in community-based learning. She has been a classroom teacher in Ontario, England, and Tanzania. Her research supports learning in and about science and environmental and climate justice education for teacher education, through citizen science, and place-based formal and informal learning, with reconciliation in mind and heart.

Ellen Watson, PhD, a co-editor of this special issue, is an associate professor at Brandon University’s Faculty of Education. Her research interests center on teachers’ beliefs about science, epistemic education in science, physics education, and teacher advocacy. Her recent work has focused on teachers’ beliefs about science knowledge and on investigating those experiences teachers’ attribute as impactful on their belief development. She is an active teacher in—and current Department Chair of—the Curriculum & Pedagogy Department and teaches courses in science education, curriculum studies, and pedagogy.