About
Dr. Liz Potter-Nelson is Assistant Professor of Education Foundations at the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point. At UWSP Dr. Potter-Nelson teaches courses in the School of Education to undergraduate and graduate students, as well as supports doctoral students in the Educational Sustainability program. Her research is in sustainability education, focusing on how educators, at all levels, holistically incorporate sustainability into their courses through the content they teach and the pedagogies they use.
Previously, Dr. Potter-Nelson was an assistant professor at the University of Maine at Farmington teaching courses in the Division of Teacher Education and the Division of Natural Sciences. She also participated in a number of service opportunities at UMF and in Maine including: advising first year education students, serving as a member of the Institutional Review Board, and was a member of Maine’s Climate Education Taskforce.
Upon completing of her doctoral degree, Dr. Potter-Nelson worked at MIT as a Postdoctoral Associate in Environmental and Sustainability Education in the Environmental Solutions Initiative (ESI) where she led the development of the SCALES (Sustainability and Climate Change Across Learning Environments) project. The primary aim of the SCALES project was targeted expansion of instructional capacity in the U.S. on topics of climate change and sustainability through core subjects in Science, Technology, Engineering, Math and the humanities at secondary and post-secondary institutions.
Prior to her work in higher education, Dr. Potter-Nelson spent 15 years in public education as a high science teacher, administrator, technology coach, and curriculum coordinator, in rural, urban, and suburban schools throughout the Midwest. Beginning her career as a high school chemistry and physics teacher, Dr. Potter-Nelson engaged her students in guided-inquiry experiences to interact with and build their understanding of science. Most recently, Dr. Potter-Nelson was the Secondary Curriculum and Instruction Coordinator, collaborating with administrators and teachers to support the development and implementation of curriculum accessible to all students at the secondary level (grades 7-12).
Dr. Potter-Nelson earned her doctoral degree in Educational Sustainability at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. Her dissertation research assessed the presence and interpretation of key sustainability literacy competency categories (i.e. sustainability knowledge, systems thinking, social justice, and futures thinking) in undergraduate education courses.
Originally from Wisconsin, Dr. Potter-Nelson makes sure to spend time with her family playing board games and going out on hikes.
