The Pennsylvania State University
Emeritus Professor of Biology
CHANCE Founding Director
[email protected]

Dr. Jacqueline McLaughlin is an Emeritus Professor of Biology at Pennsylvania State University. She earned her Ph.D. in Cell and Developmental Biology from Rutgers University/University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, M.S. in Cell and Developmental Biology from Florida State University, and B.A. in Biology from New College. She has spent her academic career building and propagating transformative learning environments for higher education at the local, national, and international levels by creating authentic undergraduate research experiences through her diverse roles: life-science educator, cell and developmental biologist, short-term study abroad program director and educator, conservationist, faculty mentor, U.S. foreign affairs officer, and science advisor to U.S. and foreign governments and universities. She has served as a Visiting Professor at Jiangnan University, Wuxi, China; National Academy of Science Jefferson Science Fellow to the U.S. Department of State, Washington D.C. USA; Embassy Science Fellow to the U.S. Embassy in Bucharest, Romania; and a Special Counselor to the Vice-Rector at the University of Bucharest, Romania.

She is the Founding Director of CHANCE, a Penn State award-winning program that combines study abroad with undergraduate research in environmental sustainability with over 60 governmental, non-governmental, academic, and corporate global partners. She has developed and led programs to Alaska, Australia, China, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, Galapagos, Greece, Panama, Peru, Romania, and Tanzania. She and her students and colleagues have researched issues related to deforestation and loss of biodiversity, lake eutrophication and water pollution, desertification and water loss, and global climate change and coral bleaching in biomes and aquatic ecosystems around the world. She has received numerous accolades including the 2022 National Society for Experiential Education John S. Duley Lifetime Achievement Award, 2021 Meritorious Honor Award from the U.S. Department of State, 2018 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Citation from the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, and 2017 Higher Education Educator of the Year from the North American Association for Environmental Education.

She has published over 65 publications related to transformative approaches to STEM education, undergraduate research, science diplomacy, and/or civic engagement. She is a frequently invited keynote speaker or presenter in arenas that promote undergraduate research in STEM, international environmental education, and conservation biology. Dr. McLaughlin presently serves as an associate editor to the peer-reviewed academic journal, Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad, which communicates the latest research on education abroad. She is also building conservation study abroad courses for the College Year in Athens (CYA) on plastic pollution in the Aegean Sea.

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