Kelly Riedinger is a senior researcher and program lead in Informal, K-12 and Connected STEM learning. Kelly brings more than 20 years of experience working as a researcher, evaluator and practitioner in both K-12 classrooms and informal science education.

Kelly has been active in a number of professional organizations including the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, Visitor Studies Association, the Leadership Exchange in Arts and Disabilities, NARST, the National Marine Educators Association (NMEA), and the NSTA. She currently serves on the executive board of directors for the Visitors Studies Association, the editorial board for the Visitor Studies journal and is a member of the steering committee for the Social Science Research and Evaluation Scientific Advisory Group for the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

Kelly’s research interests include promoting access and inclusion in informal science education settings for learners with disabilities, investigating youths’ identities as learners of science, and connecting formal and informal science education.

Kelly has a Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction with a focus on science education from the University of Maryland, College Park; a M.S. degree in Oceanography from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia; and a B.A. degree in Biology from Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio.

Current Projects:

• Gulf of Maine Research Institute LabVenture (2018-2023)
• Innovations in Development: Building Supports Towards a Useful, Usable, and In-Use Framework of Professional Competencies for the Informal STEM Learning Field (2022-2025)
• interPLAY: Early Learners Developing STEM Skills through Play and Design
• Inclusive Workplaces for Individuals with Developmental Disabilities in Informal STEM Education (IWISE) (2024-2027)
• Modeling Zoos and Aquariums as Inclusive Communities of Science (MoZAICS) for Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder
• STEM Storytelling with Podcasts for Blind, Visually Impaired, and Sighted Students (SSP)
• Well-Rounded Access Program (WRAP)

Past Projects:

• AR Girls: Augmented-Reality Targeting Science (2018-2020)
• Bringing the Universe to America's Classrooms (2016-17)
• CAISE Evaluation (2016-2021)
• Connected Science Learning (2014-17)
• Curiosity Machine (2017-2019)
• Explorer at Large Pilot Implementation (2017-2020)
• STEM Matters: Investigating the Confluence of Visitor and Institutional Agendas (2016-2020)
• Students to Launch
• The Virtual Field: A Mitigation Strategy for the COVID-19 Pandemic