Maia Popova, PhD
Associate Professor | Dean’s Fellow for Science Education Advancement
m_popova@uncg.edu
UNC Greensboro
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
404 Patricia A. Sullivan Science Building
PO Box 26170
Greensboro, NC 27402-6170
Education
B.S., Ivanovo State University, Russia (2013)
Ph.D., Miami University, Ohio (2018)
Postdoc, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Nebraska (2019)
When I’m not researching, I enjoy
Spending time with my family, especially being a mom to my son, Ricky
Nature, botanical gardens, and my many indoor plants
Watching my budgies do silly things
About Dr. Popova
My path into science has taken me across the world. I was born in Moldova. At the age of 15, I moved to Russia, where I completed high school and earned my B.S. in chemistry from Ivanovo State University. As an undergraduate, I conducted materials chemistry research, published a first-author paper, and was awarded the Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher Scholarship.
My experiences as a student made me curious about why chemistry feels exciting to some people and intimidating to others. I also often found that it was possible to earn good grades without a true understanding of the material or the ability to apply it in new situations. That disconnect between performance and understanding made me question what it really means to “learn” chemistry and how teaching could better support deep, meaningful learning. Those questions ultimately became the foundation of my research career.
Upon graduation, I moved to the United States to earn my Ph.D. in Chemistry at Miami University (Oxford, Ohio). Working with Stacey Lowery Bretz, I studied student learning of organic chemistry. This work resulted in six peer-reviewed publications, including five first-author papers, one of which received the prestigious ACS Editors’ Choice Award.
After earning my Ph.D., I joined the University of Nebraska-Lincoln for a year as a postdoc. Working with Marilyne Stains, I characterized the teaching beliefs and instructional practices of chemistry faculty. This work resulted in four papers, including two first-author publications.
Today, as a professor at UNCG, I collaborate with the talented students in my research group to investigate the questions that first sparked my curiosity as an undergraduate: what it means to truly understand chemistry and how teaching can help more students get there.
Current Students
Hannah Ericson
Postdoctoral
Researcher
Joined in June 2025
Project: Evaluating the impact of the CLC PD on the thinking and practices of laboratory instructors
Degree: Ph.D. in Biology from UGA supervised by Dr. Tessa Andrews
Email: hcericson@uncg.edu
Audrey Gay
Graduate
Researcher
Joined in August 2024
Project: Characterizing the experiences of neurodivergent students learning chemistry
Pursuing: Ph.D. in Chemistry and Biochemistry with expected graduation in Spring 2029
Email: ajgay@uncg.edu
Anam Bukhari
Graduate
Researcher
Joined in August 2024
Project: Evaluating the impact of the CLC PD on the thinking and practices of laboratory instructors
Pursuing: Ph.D. in Chemistry and Biochemistry with expected graduation in Spring 2029
Email: s_bukhari@uncg.edu
Jhiauna Wise
Post-baccalaureate Researcher
Joined in August 2024
Project: Translating between representations of molecular structure
Degree: B.A. in English Secondary Education
Email: jdjon22@uncg.edu
Rehnuma Ahmed
UNDERGRADUATE
Researcher
Joined in June 2022
Project: Understanding the experiences of marginalized women pursuing Ph.D. in chemistry
Pursuing: B.S. in Biology and a minor in Chemistry with expected graduation in Spring 2024
Email: rjahmed@uncg.edu
Emile Walker
UNDERGRADUATE
Researcher
Joined in September 2025
Project: Evaluating the impact of the CLC PD on the thinking and practices of laboratory instructors
Pursuing: B.S. in Marine Science, minor in Anthropology and Museum Studies, expected graduation in Spring 2027
Email: mwalker@smcm.edu
Felicia Etchi
Post-baccalaureate Researcher
Joined in January 2026
Project: Inorganic chemistry instructors’ beliefs, PCK, and practices for teaching symmetry
Degree: B.S. in Biology with a concentration in Biotechnology with an expected graduation in Spring 2027
Email: feetchi@uncg.edu
Emma O’Brien
UNDERGRADUATE
Researcher
Joined in January 2026
Project: Evaluating the impact of the CLC PD on the thinking and practices of laboratory instructors
Pursuing: B.S. in Biology with a minor in Chemistry with an expected graduation in Spring 2027
Email: eeobrien2@uncg.edu
Roshni G. Bhaskar
GRADUATE
Researcher
Joined in August 2023
Project: Design and evaluation of interventions to support learner representational competence
Pursuing: Ph.D. in Chemistry and Biochemistry with expected graduation in Spring 2027
Email: r_bhaskar@uncg.edu
Meghan Kelly
GRADUATE
Researcher
Joined in August 2023
Project: Evaluating the impact of the CLC PD on the thinking and practices of laboratory instructors
Pursuing: Ph.D. in Chemistry and Biochemistry with expected graduation in Spring 2028
Email: mikelly@uncg.edu
Amala Jones
UNDERGRADUATE
Researcher
Joined in January 2023
Project: Translating between representations of molecular structure
Pursuing: B.S. in Biology, with a minor in Chemistry and Islamic Studies with an expected graduation in Spring 2024
Email: asjones8@uncg.edu
Shanna Hilborn
GRADUATE
Researcher
Joined in August 2022
Project: Inorganic chemistry instructors’ beliefs, PCK, and practices for teaching symmetry
Pursuing: Ph.D., Chemistry and Biochemistry with expected graduation in Spring 2027
Email: smhilborn@uncg.edu
Former Members
- Tyler Niles – Post-baccalaureate Researcher. Member of the group from September 2023 through December 2025.
Project: Inorganic Chemistry Instructors’ Pedagogical Knowledge and Practices for Teaching Symmetry. - Samiah Young – Undergraduate Researcher. Member of the group from May 2024 until December 2025.
Project: Inorganic Chemistry Instructors’ Pedagogical Knowledge and Practices for Teaching Symmetry. - Ashley Morales-Campos – Undergraduate Researcher. Member of the group from May 2024 until December 2025.
Project: Evaluating the impact of the CLC PD on the thinking and practices of laboratory instructors. - Austin Cook – Post-baccalaureate Researcher. Member of the group from February 2024 through May 2025.
Project: Design, development, and evaluation of interventions to support learner representational competence. - Zoie Bunch – Graduate Researcher. Member of the group from December 2020 until May 2025.
Project: Eye-tracking of Student Visual Processing Behavior when Translating between Representations of Molecular Structure. Co-author of doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.1c01054 and doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.3c00385. - Lu Shi – Postdoctoral Researcher. Member of the group from June 2022 until March 2025.
Project: Inorganic Chemistry Instructors’ Beliefs, PCK, and Practices for Teaching Symmetry. First author of DOI: 10.1039/D4RP00322E and doi.org/10.1039/D5RP00275C. - Elizabeth Cieza – Post-baccalaureate Researcher. Member of the group from June 2022 until June 2024.
Project: Understanding the experiences of marginalized women pursuing Ph.D. in chemistry. Co-author of doi.org/10.1002/tea.21986 and of doi.org./10.1021/acs.jchemed.5c00274. - Carly Beck – Undergraduate Researcher. Member of the group from June 2022 through August 2023.
Project: Students’ Reasoning about Representations of Molecular Structure. Co-author of doi.org/10.1039/D4RP00030G. - Zoe Edmonson – Undergraduate Researcher. Member of the group from June 2022 until June 2024.
Project: Inorganic Chemistry Instructors’ Beliefs, PCK, and Practices for Teaching Symmetry. - Qyanna Porter – Post-baccalaureate Researcher. Member of the group from January 2022 through December 2023.
Project: Machine Learning for Automated Analysis of Students’ Explanations of IR Concepts. - Madeline Downs – Post-baccalaureate Researcher. Member of the group from January 2022 through June 2023.
Project: Machine Learning for Automated Analysis of Students’ Explanations of IR Concepts. - Sara Arevalo – Post-baccalaureate Researcher. Member of the group from December 2021 through December 2023.
Project: Qualitative Analysis of Students’ Reasoning about Representations of Molecular Structure. - Rebecca Boadu – Post-baccalaureate Researcher. Member of the group from November 2021 through June 2024.
Project: Representational Competence Literature Review - Dan Kunath – Post-baccalaureate Researcher. Member of the group from November 2021 through December 2022.
Project: Eye-tracking of Student Visual Processing Behavior when Translating between Representations of Molecular Structure. - Mary Grace Miller – Post-baccalaureate Researcher. Member of the group from October 2021 until May 2022.
Project: Understanding the experiences of minoritized women pursuing Ph.D. in chemistry. - Allison Delgado – Visiting summer student from Forsyth Technical Community College in Summer 2021.
Project: Literature Review of Studies on Chemistry Textbooks. - Jada Hairston – Post-baccalaureate Researcher. Member of the group from August 2021 through February 2022.
Project: Representational Competence Literature Review. - Han Nguyen – Visiting summer student in Summer 2021 from Forsyth Technical Community College.
Project: Literature Review of Studies on Chemistry Textbooks. - Mikah Bass – Undergraduate researcher. Member of the group from May 2021 and until December 2021.
Project: Understanding the experiences of marginalized women pursuing Ph.D. in chemistry. - Cindy Onokalah – Undergraduate Researcher. Member of the group from April 2021 until August 2022.
Project: Qualitative Analysis of Students’ Reasoning about Representations of Molecular Structure - Bailey Thompson – Undergraduate researcher. Member of the group from December 2020 through May 2023.
Project: Literature Review of Studies on Chemistry Textbooks. First author of doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.3c00385. Co-author of doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.1c01054. - Julia Hoang – Post-baccalaureate Researcher. Member of the group from October 2020 until August 2022.
Project: Qualitative Analysis of Students’ Reasoning about Representations of Molecular Structure. Co-author of doi.org/10.1039/9781839167782-00036 and doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2024.1371132. - Dr. Lyniesha W. Ward – Postdoctoral Researcher. Member of the group from August 2020 through June 2023.
Project: Design, Development, and Evaluation of Organic Chemistry Representational Competence Assessment (ORCA). First author of DOI: 10.1039/d3rp00188, doi.org/10.1039/9781839167782-00036, and doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2024.1371132. Co-author of doi.org/10.1039/D4RP00030G. - Dr. Eshan Gurung – Visiting scholar with Ph.D. in Chemistry from Texas Tech University. Member of the group from March 2020 until August 2021.
Project: Evaluating the effectiveness of organic chemistry textbooks for promoting representational competence. First author of doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.1c01054. - Kyeyoung (Daniel) Chang – Visiting high school student from Ledford Senior High School – 2020 Draelos Scholar.
Project: Evaluating the effectiveness of organic chemistry textbooks for promoting representational competence. - Grace Loftin – Visiting high school student from the Early College at Guilford – 2020 Draelos Scholar.
Project: Evaluating the effectiveness of organic chemistry textbooks for promoting representational competence. - Robin Jacob – Post-baccalaureate researcher. Member of the group from July 2020 until December 2021.
Project: Evaluating the effectiveness of organic chemistry textbooks for promoting representational competence. Co-author of doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.1c01054. - Fridah Rotich – Graduate Researcher. Member of the group from October 2019 through July 2024.
Project: Qualitative Analysis of Students’ Reasoning about Representations of Molecular Structures. The first author of doi.org/10.1039/D4RP00030G and co-author of DOI: 10.1039/d3rp00188 and doi.org/10.1039/9781839167782-00036. - Tamera Jones – Graduate Researcher. Member of the group from September 2019 until June 2024.
Project: Different forms of chemistry representation: Faculty teaching with representations and marginalized women’s experiences in doctoral programs. The first author of doi.org./10.1021/acs.jchemed.5c00274, doi.org/10.1002/tea.21986, and doi.org/10.1039/D2RP00173J, and co-author of doi.org/10.1039/D0RP00329H. - Biannca Jones – Undergraduate researcher. Member of the group from September 2019 until June 2020.
Project: Organic Chemistry Instructors’ Beliefs and Practices Toward Developing Student Representational Competence. - Anastasia Romanov – Undergraduate/post-baccalaureate researcher. Member of the group from September 2019 until December 2020.
Project: Organic Chemistry Instructors’ Beliefs and Practices Toward Developing Student Representational Competence. Co-author of doi.org/10.1039/D2RP00173J.