Prison Education

Tens of thousands of those incarcerated in the U.S. are enrolled in college, but almost none have access to basic science education. This deep need for scientific literacy was one of the factors that drew me to pursue education in the prison system.

To address the obstacles of teaching STEM ‘inside’, I spent two years collaborating with prison administration and accreditors to introduce an introductory biology course into New Jersey’s maximum-security prison, working to ensure both safety and academic rigor. Working alongside a fellow graduate student, Ana Mostafavi, I went on to lead the development of three additional science courses. I have now taught a total of 15 classes within the prison system, reaching over 300 students.

My work has had a significant impact on the individual and systemic levels. Through a simple wet-lab demonstration that I was able to get inside, a student serving a life-sentence had an ‘ah-ha’ moment of realization when he deduced that soap is molecularly suited to wash away fats. Like so many students, he was empowered by STEM knowledge.

While individual impact is rewarding, I have also sought to effect structural change. My efforts were included as a component of $2 million per year NSF grant (1931045) that aims build a sustainable model for wet labs in prisons. I continue to teach and advocate publicly for STEM education in prisons and have been interviewed by the Chronicle of Higher Education and Physics Today.

I am often asked by colleagues why I devote so much effort to prison education, which betrays a perspective that outreach, mentoring, and teaching are charity rather than a synergistic and necessary component of high-impact research. Of my many motivations, these sentiments capture most:

“I am, somehow, less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein's brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops.” Stephen Jay Gould

“We are told that we are our mistakes, that because of our mistakes, society will not accept us. But being part of WashU has given me a better perspective of who I am as a person and as a student.” One of my former students, at his 2022 Graduation

This image was drawn by students in the Introductory Biology class at the Fort Dix Federal Corrections Facility in 2017.

Courses Taught

Prison Education Project at Washington University in St. Louis

Accredited courses taught on a volunteer basis through PEP

BIO101 (U29 – 101P) – General Biology I. Lead Instructor, Missouri Eastern Correctional Center. Spring 2023.

BIO4391 (U29 – 4391) – Modern Genetics. Co-Lead Instructor, Missouri Eastern Correctional Center. Fall 2021.

BIO101 (U29 – 101P) – General Biology I. Lead Instructor, Missouri Eastern Correctional Center. Spring 2020.

Prison Teaching Initiative at Princeton University

Accredited courses taught on a volunteer basis through PTI in partnership with Raritan Valley Community College (RVCC) and Mercer Country Community College (MCCC)

BIOL142 - Human Nutrition. Lead Instructor - RVCC, Multiple correctional facilities (correspondence course). Fall 2020.

CHEM101 - Introductory Chemistry for non-majors. Assistant Instructor - MCCC, Ft. Dix Federal Corrections Institution. Fall 2018.

BIO113 - Introductory Biology with Lab for non-majors. Lead Instructor - MCCC, Ft. Dix Federal Corrections Institution. Spring 2018.

BIOL111 - Introductory Biology with Lab for non-majors. Instructor - RVCC, Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women. Fall 2017.

BIOL111 - Introductory Biology with Lab for non-majors. Lead Instructor - RVCC, Garden State Correctional Facility. Fall 2017.

How to be a scientist – Noncredit- bearing weekly seminar. Co-Lead Instructor - Ft. Dix Federal Corrections Institution. Fall 2017.

BIOL111 - Introductory Biology with Lab for non-majors. Co-Lead Instructor - RVCC, Albert C Wagner Correctional Facility. Spring 2017.

BIO113 - Introductory Biology with Lab for non-majors. Lead Instructor - MCCC, Ft. Dix Federal Corrections Institution. Spring 2017.

BIOL120 – Human Biology with Lab for non-majors. Co-Lead Instructor - RVCC, Albert C Wagner Correctional Facility. Fall 2016.

BIO113 – Introductory Biology with Lab for non-majors. Co-Lead Instructor - MCCC, East Jersey State Penitentiary. Spring 2016.

BIO114 – Environmental Science. Co-Lead Instructor - MCCC, Mountain View Correctional Facility. Fall 2015.

MAT125 – Statistics I. Instructor - MCCC, East Jersey State Penitentiary. Spring 2015.

BIO114 - Environmental Science. Assistant Instructor - MCCC, Garden State Correctional Facility. Spring 2014.