Brandi Cannon-Force

Project focus: The Fellow will engage intergenerational groups from marginalized communities in the New York City area as co-researchers in an educational digital storytelling project that explores how participants shape science and how science shapes them, culminating in a co-curated, temporary exhibition.

Brandi Cannon-Force is an interdisciplinary education researcher working at the intersection of identity, culture, and science education. Throughout her doctoral program at Stanford University, she dedicated herself to designing, implementing, and evaluating inclusive STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) learning experiences across formal and informal settings. She is a former botanist and secondary science educator, and her prior research emphasizes empowering learners of all ages and backgrounds to strengthen, repair, and reimagine their STEM identities through informal, place-based, and interdisciplinary learning.

Brandi is excited to partner with the American Museum of Natural History to explore how families shape and shift their STEM identities over time as learners and advocates for young learners. Providing space and time for reflection on STEM identity, negotiating what a STEM identity means to learners, and exploring how this identity might intertwine with personal passions and hobbies can be a starting point for repairing previous STEM harm for marginalized learners. Her work bridges research, practice, and community engagement, a synergy that aligns with advancing civic science through innovative, equity-centered programming and that allows those most marginalized in STEM education spaces to rewrite the narratives about who gets to engage with and continue to participate in STEM. Brandi earned her Ph.D. from Stanford University.

For fun, she is an avid gardener, amateur chocolatier, and mother to her two adorable but devious cats.