Email: m_popova@uncg.edu
Post Doc, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Nebraska (2019)
Ph.D., Miami University, Ohio (2018)
B.S., Ivanovo State University, Russia (2013)
I was born in Moldova – a small country in Eastern Europe. At the age of 15, I moved to Russia where I finished high school and received my B.S. in chemistry from Ivanovo State University. As an undergraduate student I conducted materials chemistry research, published a first-author paper in Liquid Crystals and their Application, and was awarded the Outstanding Undergraduate Research President’s Scholarship.
Upon graduation, I moved to the United States to earn my Ph.D. in Chemistry from the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry at Miami University (Oxford, Ohio). Working with Stacey Lowery Bretz, I studied student learning of organic chemistry. These efforts led to seven papers, including five first-author publications in the Journal of Chemical Education and Chemistry Education Research and Practice. One of my publications received the prestigious ACS Editors’ Choice Award, and two others were featured on the cover of the Journal of Chemical Education and MDPI Materials.
After earning my Ph.D., I joined the Department of Chemistry at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. As a postdoctoral scholar working with Marilyne Stains I characterized the teaching beliefs and instructional practices of chemistry faculty across different institutions in the US. This work resulted in four papers, including two first-author publications, in Chemistry Education Research and Practice and CBE—Life Sciences Education.
Having had all of these great opportunities, I am excited to leverage my knowledge and skills to establish an impactful research program at UNC Greensboro!
Post-baccalaureate Researcher
Joined the Popova Group in February 2024
Project: Design, development, and evaluation of interventions to support learner representational competence
Degree earned: B.A. in Medical Anthropology
Email: arcook3@uncg.edu
Post-baccalaureate Researcher
Joined the Popova Group in September 2023
Project: Inorganic Chemistry Instructors’ Beliefs, PCK, and Practices for Teaching Symmetry
Degree earned: BA in Environmental Studies with a concentration in Ecology and Society from UNC
Email: taniles@uncg.edu
Graduate Researcher
Joined the Popova Group in August 2023
Project: Design, development, and evaluation of interventions to support learner representational competence
Currently pursuing: Ph.D. in Chemistry and Biochemistry with expected graduation in Spring 2027
Email: r_bhaskar@uncg.edu
Graduate Researcher
Joined the Popova Group in August 2023
Project: Organic chemistry students’ reasoning with and about representations of molecular structure
Currently pursuing: Ph.D. in Chemistry and Biochemistry with expected graduation in Spring 2028
Email: mikelly@uncg.edu
Undergraduate Researcher
Joined the Popova Group in January 2023
Project: Eye-tracking when Translating between Representations of Molecular Structure
Currently pursuing: B.S. in Biology, with a minor in Chemistry and Islamic Studies with an expected graduation in Spring 2024
Email: asjones8@uncg.edu
Graduate Researcher
Joined the Popova Group in August 2022
Project: Inorganic Chemistry Instructors’ Beliefs, PCK, and Practices for Teaching Symmetry
Currently pursuing: Ph.D., Chemistry and Biochemistry with expected graduation in Spring 2027
Email: smhilborn@uncg.edu
Post-baccalaureate Researcher
Joined the Popova Group in June 2022
Project: Understanding the experiences of marginalized women pursuing Ph.D. in chemistry
Degree earned: B.A. in Psychology and B.A. in Global Studies
Email: e_cieza@uncg.edu
Undergraduate Researcher
Joined the Popova Group in June 2022
Project: Understanding the experiences of marginalized women pursuing Ph.D. in chemistry
Currently pursuing: B.S. in Biology and a minor in Chemistry with expected graduation in Spring 2024
Email: rjahmed@uncg.edu
Undergraduate Researcher
Joined the Popova Group in June 2022
Project: Inorganic Chemistry Instructors’ Beliefs, PCK, and Practices for Teaching Symmetry
Currently pursuing: B.S. in Biology and a minor in Chemistry and Communication Studies with expected graduation in Fall 2023/Spring 2024
Email: zsedmonson@uncg.edu
Postdoctoral Researcher
Joined the Popova Group in June 2022
Project: Inorganic Chemistry Instructors’ Beliefs, PCK, and Practices for Teaching Symmetry
Degree Earned: Ph.D. in Chemistry from UVA with Dr. Marilyne Stains
Email: l_shi3@uncg.edu
Post-baccalaureate Researcher
Joined the Popova Group in November 2021
Project: Representational Competence Literature Review
Degree earned: B.A. in Biology and B.A. in Comparative Studies
Email: raboadu@uncg.edu
Graduate Researcher
Joined the Popova Group in December 2020
Project: Eye-tracking of Student Visual Processing Behavior when Translating between Representations of Molecular Structure
Currently pursuing: Ph.D., Chemistry and Biochemistry with expected graduation in Spring 2025
Email: zlbunch@uncg.edu
Graduate Researcher
Joined the Popova Group in October 2019
Project: Qualitative Analysis of Students’ Reasoning about Representations of Molecular Structure
Currently pursuing: Ph.D., Chemistry and Biochemistry with expected graduation in Spring 2024
Email: fcrotich@uncg.edu
Graduate Researcher
Joined the Popova Group in September 2019
Project: Understanding the experiences of marginalized women pursuing Ph.D. in chemistry
Currently pursuing: Ph.D., Chemistry and Biochemistry with expected graduation in Spring 2024
Email: tsjones7@uncg.edu