Dr. Rachel Roberts-Galbraith and Dr. Julie Stanton were two of three faculty members from Franklin College of Arts and Sciences that were recognized with a 2020 Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award from the National Science Foundation. This is one of NSF’s most prestigious awards in support of early-career faculty. Dr. Roberts-Galbraith researches planarians that can regenerate missing tissues after amputation or injury. She has collaborated the chemistry department to develop a First-Year Odyssey Seminar that aims to introduce new students on campus to research. Her lab will also welcome K-12 teachers from the Clarke County School District as summer scholars. Dr. Stanton studies metacognition development and methods to accelerate metacognition. “Metacognition is something students use when they are facing novel challenges,” said Stanton. “With the pandemic, we expect students to be using metacognition more to reflect and adjust how they are learning because of the difficult times. This is an interesting time to be studying this subject.” She will launch a longitudinal study at UGA, UNG, and SGSC, that will follow students throughout their college career to gather data on their developing metacognitive skills. She plans to create an evidence-based course for first-year students called “Metacognition and Biology.” UGA faculty members awarded NSF Career Grants
