About

Anne M. Baranger is the College Dean, Interim, and Gilbert Newton Lewis Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley. She holds a B.S. in Chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1988) and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from UC Berkeley (1993). Her postdoctoral work was conducted at Yale University with Professor Alanna Schepartz from 1993 to 1996. She has served on the chemistry faculty at Wesleyan University and the University of Illinois before joining UC Berkeley in 2011. Her research focuses on chemical education, curricular development, and assessment. She is dedicated to developing evidence-based educational practices that teach rigorous chemical content and authentic scientific practices, aiming to make undergraduate education more accessible, enjoyable, and relatable. Her projects include documenting and improving student learning in undergraduate research experiences, investigating problem-solving in organic courses, developing near-peer teaching and mentoring programs, and integrating green chemistry and authentic laboratory practices. Dr. Baranger has received several fellowships and awards, including the Rudolph Anderson Postdoctoral Fellowship, the Donaghue Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship, the Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship, and the ACS-CEI Award for Incorporation of Sustainability into Chemistry Education.

Research topics

• Sociology
• Psychology
• Computer Science
• Political Science
• Medicine
• Mathematics education
• Medical education
• Pedagogy
• Organic chemistry
• Social Science
• Chemistry
• Public relations
• Engineering
• Mathematics
• Ecology
• Physics
• Library science
• Engineering ethics
• Social psychology

Selected publications

• Integrating social responsibility and diversity, equity, and inclusion into the graduate chemistry curriculum

  Chemical Science · 2025-01-01 · 4 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Science's broader impacts and the historic social, political, and geographic implications of these impacts are rarely discussed in graduate STEM curricula. A new required "Scientific Responsibility and Citizenship" course for first year chemistry graduate students was developed and taught at UC Berkeley. The course examined a series of case studies in which basic chemistry research led to societal impacts and discussed the diversity and equity of the research process and resulting consequences. The impact of the course was examined through pre- and post-surveys and interviews with participants. The course was found to have raised students' awareness and sense of responsibility for the impacts of their research and the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Students also expressed an increased sense of identity and value alignment with the community as a result of the course. This study shows that even a relatively low-commitment intervention (6 hours in total), can have a large positive impact on students' awareness of the social context of science and their perceptions of department values.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Where are they now? Academic and career trajectories of national laboratory STEM internship alumni from community colleges, compared to those from universities

  bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · 2025-03-26

  preprintOpen accessSenior author

  Abstract It is well-established that participation in technical or research experiences can support university student retention in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). However, there is very little published research on the availability and impact of opportunities for community college students, particularly those provided by Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratories. To address this gap, we collected data from students who participated in two DOE sponsored programs spanning from 2009 to 2016: the Community College Internship (CCI) and Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internship (SULI) at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). Among CCI alumni, 90% earned a STEM bachelor’s degree and 88% are on a STEM career pathway. For SULI alumni, 91% earned a STEM bachelor’s degree and 71% are on a STEM career pathway. Overall, 80% of CCI alumni and 56% of SULI alumni have entered the STEM workforce, 5% of CCI alumni and 11% of SULI alumni are in the health workforce, and 6% of CCI alumni and 13% of SULI alumni are in the non-STEM workforce. Our findings indicate that community college students who participate in STEM professional development activities (such as the CCI program) are likely to complete their academic degrees and pursue STEM careers at rates comparable to those of university students. This investment in providing internships at LBNL for community college students has effectively supported their entry into STEM careers and their desire in pursuing work within the DOE complex in the years following their participation in these programs.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• “When I talk about it, my eyes light up!” Impacts of a national laboratory internship on community college student success

  PLoS ONE · 2025-01-14 · 3 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Participation in technical/research internships may improve undergraduate graduation rates and persistence in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), yet little is known about the benefits of these activities a) for community college students, b) when hosted by national laboratories, and c) beyond the first few years after the internship. We applied Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) to investigate alumni perspectives about how CCI at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) impacted their academic/career activities. We learned that alumni had low confidence and expectations of success in STEM as community college students. Participation in CCI increased their professional networks, expectations of success, and STEM skills, identity, and self-efficacy/confidence. Hispanic/Latinx alumni recalled the positive impact of mentors who prioritized personal connections, and women valued "warm" social environments. We propose several additions to the SCCT model, to better reflect the supports and barriers to STEM persistence for community college students.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• The Tangible Benefits of Disability and Accessibility Awareness in Evolutionary Biology College Courses Centered in Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

  CBE—Life Sciences Education · 2025-08-06 · 1 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is one method for implementing inclusive education that can have tangible benefits for all learners, increasing educational accessibility. Furthermore, UDL can be used as a vehicle to train majority nondisabled students in methods of inclusive education. We implemented an inclusive education pedagogical framework centered in UDL and tasked undergraduate evolutionary biology students with creating digital science media products throughout semester-long science communication projects. Our goal was to assess student perceptions of accessibility and disability, within the context of science products such as digital media. Student pre-post survey comparisons indicate an increase in ability to define accessibility, consider accessibility in science media, and advocate for access in science. Additionally, postsurvey results suggest that students experience a greater sense of classroom community, inclusion in science, and awareness of disability as diversity. We centered our study in Critical Disability Theory, and we draw on universal design literature and our lived experiences. Evolutionary biology courses inherit a long and troubling history of exclusion and othering through problematic science communication and debunked concepts of human categorization. As biology educators and education researchers, we wish to enact change in our evolutionary biology college classrooms to center our pedagogy in social justice, challenging this history. We encourage future UDL implementation in evolutionary biology and other science courses, where future practitioners of science, medicine, engineering, and other fields can feel empowered by inclusive practices and community experience.

  PublisherDOI

• Correction: “When I talk about it, my eyes light up!” Impacts of a national laboratory internship on community college student success

  PLoS ONE · 2025-03-11 · 1 citations

  erratumOpen accessSenior author

  [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0317403.].

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Author response for "Integrating Social Responsibility and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion into the Graduate Chemistry Curriculum"

  2025-01-17

  peer-reviewSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Behind the Scenes of Teaching Green: An Iterative Approach to Curriculum Design and Implementation in the General Chemistry Laboratory

  Journal of Chemical Education · 2024 · 11 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  • Computer Science
  • Sociology
  • Chemistry

  As the 21st century progresses, we are increasingly reminded of the importance of and need for green chemistry, which also leads to the corresponding need for green chemistry education. The UC Berkeley Department of Chemistry developed a green chemistry laboratory curriculum─the General Chemistry Green Curriculum (GC2)─recognizing general chemistry as a keystone course for introducing green chemistry to STEM professionals. This initiative focused both on what green chemistry content was taught and how that green chemistry content was delivered using the Knowledge Integration framework to design a curriculum that provided students with opportunities to integrate normative green chemistry concepts and practices into their existing knowledge schema. This initiative also used a utilization-focused evaluation framework to guide iterative improvements in the curriculum over three semesters. Ultimately, this process allowed us, in collaboration with instructors and students, to develop and refine over 50 new green chemistry postlab questions, 25 new green chemistry prelab questions, and 47 green chemistry in-lab prompts for the final version of GC2. We found that it is important to integrate green chemistry into both curriculum and pedagogy to signal to students that it is a valued practice. We also found that a successful curriculum implementation necessitates the buy-in from and support of the graduate teaching assistants since they do not always have prior knowledge of green chemistry. We hope that this study can provide a guide for institutions aiming to embed green chemistry into their courses or curricula─emphasizing stakeholder collaboration, continuous iteration, and a comprehensive pedagogical framework.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Author response for "Integrating Social Responsibility and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion into the Graduate Chemistry Curriculum"

  2024-11-19

  peer-reviewSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• From population to community: can local competitors composition influence the demographic vulnerability of tree species in their climatic niche?

  HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe) · 2024-10-22

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  International audience

  Publisher

• Impacts of Value Alignment for Pursuing Graduate Chemistry Research

  Journal of Chemical Education · 2024-11-19 · 1 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Efforts to improve diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI), and belonging in academic STEM programs have analyzed ways in which the community and culture can become more supportive and welcoming to minoritized scientists. Structural biases in the direction and framing of research questions and the research process itself, however, are less often addressed. Using a department climate survey, the personal scientific values and priorities of researchers in the UC Berkeley Department of Chemistry were investigated. Overall, the department showed good alignment in the values of the students and faculty. Students who identified as members of underrepresented groups were more likely to value the consideration of impacted communities and minimizing the potential for harm. Minoritized students were also more likely to report engagement in DEI and outreach-related activities. Value alignment is associated with motivation to continue and positive relationships with advisors, among other traits related to students thriving in the department. Demonstration of the department’s commitment to social responsibility and DEI is identified as a way to improve the feelings of alignment and belonging for minoritized students.

  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• Improving Undergraduate Research Experiences for STEM Majors and Pre-Service Teachers via Berkeley Undergraduate Research Evaluation Tools (BURET)

  NSF · $298k · 2017–2022

• NIH Grant R01AR058361

  NIH · $1.7M · 2015

• NIH Grant R01GM056857

  NIH · $1.9M · 2008

• Contribution of Dynamic Processes to RNA-Protein Complex Formation

  NSF · $453k · 2009–2013

Frequent coauthors

• David L. Beveridge

  Wesleyan University

  18 shared

• Robert G. Bergman

  Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

  13 shared

• Bethany L. Kormos

  Pfizer (United States)

  11 shared

• Steven C. Zimmerman

  University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

  9 shared

• Stacie L. Richardson

  Virginia Commonwealth University

  8 shared

• Sreenivasa Rao Ramisetty

  IDEXX Laboratories (United States)

  7 shared

• T.A. Hanna

  7 shared

• Yulia Benitex

  Bristol-Myers Squibb (United States)

  7 shared

Awards & honors

• Rudolph Anderson Postdoctoral Fellowship (1993-95)
• Donaghue Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship (1995)
• Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship (2002-2004)
• ACS-CEI Award for Incorporation of Sustainability into Chemi…