Lisa McDonnell Honored as Revelle College Faculty Fellow

UC San Diego School of Biological Sciences Associate Teaching Professor Lisa McDonnell has been honored as a 2022-2023 Class of Revelle College Faculty Fellow.

December 8, 2022

By Mario Aguilera

UC San Diego School of Biological Sciences Associate Teaching Professor Lisa McDonnell has been honored as a 2022-2023 Class of Revelle College Faculty Fellow.

The Revelle College Faculty and Honorary Fellow Program was established in 2015 to recognize those who have made exceptional and sustained contributions to Revelle College students through education, service and research.

“Dr. McDonnell is an integral part of the College, serving on the Revelle College Executive Committee, the College’s governing body,” said Revelle College Provost Paul Yu, in a fellowship notification letter. “She also served on the ad hoc committee researching changes to Revelle’s General Education Requirements in the Natural Sciences and participated in events to celebrate and honor Revelle students. Dr. McDonnell is a strong advocate for Revelle’s students.”

Revelle College Faculty and Honorary Fellow Program honorees are elected by Revelle College-affiliated faculty. In addition to McDonnell, 2022-2023 fellows included Dan Arovas from the Department of Physics and Alex Orailoglu from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering.

McDonnell, a School of Biological Sciences faculty member since 2015, received her PhD from the Faculty of Forestry at the University of British Columbia (UBC). During her doctoral research she used tools from cell biology, molecular biology and biotechnology to understand the role of various genes in cellulose production. She later returned to UBC as a post-doctoral fellow with the Carl Wieman Science Education Initiative.

McDonnell’s biology education research broadly aims to understand how teaching practices influence student learning and development of scientific thinking, including how students develop critical thinking skills and how their understanding of biology research is influenced by engaging in research experiences.

Previous Biological Sciences Revelle College Faculty Fellows and Honorary Fellows have included: James Kadonaga (2020-2021), Lorraine Pillus (2019-2020), Brenda Bloodgood (2018-2019) and Melvin Green (2015-2016).