Jacqueline McLaughlin is an Associate Professor of Biology at Penn State University - Lehigh Valley, and Founding Director of CHANCE (Connecting Humans and Nature through Conservation Experiences; www.chance.psu.edu), Penn State's award-winning international environmental engaged-scholarship program. She earned her PhD in Cell and Developmental Biology from Rutgers University/University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, an MS in Cell and Developmental Biology from Florida State University and a BA in Biology/Chemistry from New College (Sarasota, FL). Whether working as a cell and developmental biologist on cancer cell transformation or the embryonic vertebrate heart abnormalities, or as a conservation scientist studying the effects of global climate change, habitat destruction, or pollution on ecosystem diversity and dynamics in the fields of Africa, Australia, Bolivia, China, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, Panama, and Peru, her overall mission is to create learning environments wherein students, at any level, are inspired and effectively learn science by engaging in authentic research. As a scholar, she has published, as an author or editor, over 60 publications in books, journals, proceedings, media, and online environments, and has gratefully accepted numerous awards at the local, state, national, and international levels for excellence in teacher professional development, international programming and education, and her ultimate passion – undergraduate biology teaching and learning. Her research in biology education has played an active role in transforming undergraduate biology education through her creation and assessment of effective Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs). Presently, Dr. McLaughlin is trailblazing a new area of research – the benefits of International CUREs (I-CUREs) in short-term study abroad instruction. She has been a visiting professor at Jiangnan University (Wuxi, China) for nearly a decade, researching the pollution of the Chang Jiang (Yangtze River) and the eutrophication of Tai Hu (Lake Tai) with her Chinese students and colleagues.

State Department Profile

Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs (OES)
Office of Science and Technology Cooperation (STC) 

Dr. Jacqueline McLaughlin is a Jefferson Fellow in State’s office of science and technology cooperation (OES/STC). She is working on several projects that promote and protect American leadership in science, technology, and innovation and advance U.S. foreign policy interests. This includes managing and overseeing the Embassy Science Fellows (ESF) Program, which connects U.S. embassies, consulates, and missions around the world with U.S. government scientists from almost 20 technical agencies – including the National Institutes of Health, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and National Science Foundation, among others. As part of the ESF Program, Dr. McLaughlin assists U.S. departments and agencies in identifying and dispatching federal scientists in support of projects related to the environment, science, technology, or health issues that advance American interests in areas such as wild-life trafficking, health security, air quality and water pollution. Building on her extensive expertise in U.S. and international education, she is leading efforts across the State Department U.S. government aimed at mitigating the international S&T cooperation risks associated with countries that do not share basic American scientific values. She also leverages her vast academic network to bring together U.S. and foreign officials via roundtables, symposia, or workshops – where senior leaders meet face-to-face, often in pursuit of a mutually overlapping goal that advances the scientific and foreign policy interests of the United States and partner countries.