Virginia Bolshakova
Executive Director, Indiana GEAR UP & Assistant Research Professor
Science Education,
Curriculum and Instruction
Email:
vbolshakova@purdue.edu
Phone:
(765) 496-1862
Address:
Purdue Technology Center
3000 Kent Ave/br>
West Lafayette, Indiana 47906
Suite E2-300
About
Education
- Ph.D. — Biology and Insect Ecology, Utah State University (2013)
- M.Ed. — Science Curriculum and Instruction, University of Toledo (2007)
- B.S. — Biology & Biology Teaching Composite, minor in Psychology, State University of New York & Utah State University (2005)
Career Experience
- 2016 – present
Assistant Research Professor
Department of Curriculum and Instruction
Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN - 2016 – present
Director of Out-of-School Programs
Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN - 2013 – 2016
Assistant to Associate* Natural Resources and Youth Development Advisor
University of California Cooperative Extension in San Mateo & San Francisco Counties - 2013 – 2016
Executive Director
Elkus Ranch Environmental Science Research and Extension Center
University of California Agriculture & Natural Resources, Half Moon Bay, CA - 2007 – 2013
Graduate Research Assistant, Instructor, Lab Supervisor, and Entomology Outreach Coordinator
Utah State University, Logan, UT & USDA Forest Service Forest Health Division, Ogden, UT - 2005 – 2007
Graduate Research Assistant
Utah Quality Teacher Grant
University of Toledo, Toledo, OH
Awards & Honors
- NSF CREDITS (Center for Research, Excellence, and Diversity in Team Science) Team Science Fellow, University of California and California State University at UCLA Lake Arrowhead Conference Center (2016)
- International Recognition for Top Scientific Abstract Submission (4th out of 889 submissions evaluated by the Scientific Committee) at the International Congress of Dietetics (2016)
- Invited Guest Speaker to “Celebrating a Mixed-Plate: Promoting Diversity in Science” Symposia (2016)
- USU School of Graduate Studies Dissertation Fellowship (2013)
- North American Congress for Conservation Biology Student Award for Excellent Scientific Abstract (2012)
- James and Patrice MacMahon, Outstanding Research in Ecology (2012)
- USU Research Assistantship (2008-2011, 2012)
- USU Teaching Assistantship (2008, 2012-13)
- U of Toledo Research Assistantship, Utah Quality Teacher Grant (2005-2007)
- Student Athlete Award (basketball), SUNY at Buffalo & Utah State University (2000-2005)
- Coca-Cola Community All-American (2004)
- All-MAC Academic Team (2001 & 2002)
Research & Publications
Virginia is a broadly trained agroecologist and science educator with strong quantitative and qualitative skills. The overarching theme of her research is to understand the dynamics of coupled human and natural systems as they relate to food systems, natural resource management, and integrated STEM education. Addressing human, agricultural, and environmental challenges requires the integration of diverse perspectives. The primary goal of Virginia’s research is to improve our ability as a society to think across disciplines and cultures to improve the health, stability, and resiliency of human, natural, and agriculture systems through applied scientific discovery, instruction, and outreach. She has published in the fields of insect ecology, educational psychology, youth development, agriculture, and STEM education.
Selected Publications
- Bolshakova, V. L. J., Gieng, J., Sidhu, C.S., Vollinger, M., Gimeno, L., & Guild, J. (2018) Teens as Teachers in the Garden: Cultivating a Sustainable Model for Teaching Healthy Living. Journal of Youth Development. 13 (3),111-135. http://jyd.pitt.edu/ojs/jyd/article/view/18-13-03-PA-01
- Bolshakova V. L. J., Gieng J, Sidhu C. 2018. Teens-as-teachers nutrition program increases interest in science among schoolchildren and fosters self-efficacy in teens. California Agriculture 72(2):135-143. https://doi.org/10.3733/ca.2018a0016.
- Bolshakova, V. L. J. & Niño, E. L. 2017. Bees in the Neighborhood: Best Practices for Urban Beekeepers. University of California Press. Publication 8596 https://anrcatalog.ucanr.edu/pdf/8596.pdf
- Bolshakova, V. L. J. 2017. Empowering Student Voice at the Heart of Out-of-School Programs and Building Collective Efficacy in Our Schools. School Science and Mathematics. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.ezproxy.lib.purdue.edu/doi/10.1111/ssm.12228/epdf
- Bolshakova, V. L. J., & Evans, E.W. 2016. Phenology of the Sagebrush Defoliating Moth Aroga websteri (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae), with Application to Population Irruptions. Annals of the Entomological Society of America. https://doi.org/10.1093/aesa/saw019
- Johnson, C. C. & Bolshakova, V. L. J. 2015. Moving beyond “those kids”: Addressing middle school teacher beliefs regarding the role of culture within effective science pedagogy for diverse learners. School Science and Mathematics. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ssm.12120/pdf
- Evans, E. W., Bolshakova, V. L. J., & Carlile, N. R. 2015. Parasitoid dispersal and colonization lag in disturbed habitats: biological control of cereal leaf beetle metapopulations. Journal of Applied Entomology. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jen.12191/pdf
- Bolshakova, V. L. J. & Evans, E. W. 2014. Spatial and Temporal Dynamics of Aroga Moth (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) Populations and Damage to Sagebrush in Shrub Steppe Across Varying Elevation. Environmental Entomology, 43(6), 1475-1484. http://www.bioone.org/doi/full/10.1603/EN14133
- Johnson, C. C., Bolshakova, V. L. J., & Waldron, T. 2013. When Good Intentions and Reality Meet Large-Scale Reform of Science Teaching in Urban Schools With Predominantly Latino ELL Students. Urban Education, 0042085914543114. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0042085914543114
- Bolshakova, V. L. J., Johnson, C. C., & Czerniak, C. M. 2011. “It depends on what science teacher you got”: urban science self-efficacy from teacher and student voices. Cultural Studies of Science Education, 6(4), 961-997. http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11422-011-9346-2