Education and Partnerships for Just, Sustainable and Culturally Thriving Communities

About our topic

Dr. Bang will share models of education, that are in partnership with communities, including tribal communities, that take seriously the challenges and possibilities that climate change poses.

About the speaker

Megan Bang (Ojibwe and Italian descent) is a professor of learning sciences and director of Northwestern’s Center for Native American and Indigenous Research. She is the 2024-25 One Book One Northwestern program co-chair.

Bang, who works closely with Indigenous communities, broadly studies the dynamics of culture, learning, and development.

Her specific focus explores the complexities of navigating multiple-meaning systems in creating and implementing more effective and just learning environments in science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics education.

She also closely examines reasoning and decision-making about complex socio-ecological systems in ways that intersect with culture, power, and historicity.

Central to this work are dimensions of identity, equity, and community engagement. She conducts research in both schools and informal settings across the life course. She has taught and conducted research in teacher education as well as leadership preparation programs.

Bang, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Education, currently serves on the Board of Science Education at the National Academy of Sciences, the Advisory Board for the National Academy of Education, and the National Science Foundation's Advisory Board for Environmental Research and Education.

Education

PhD, Learning Sciences, Northwestern University, 2009
Political Science with Political Theory concentration, Williams College, 1997

Awards and Honors

Elected American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 2024
Elected Board Member of National Academy of Education, 2023, Member since 2021.
Reappointed Member, Board on Science Education, National Academy of Science 2018-2021; 2021-2025
Honoree, Influential Scholars of Color Series, Foundation for Child Development & Society for Research in Child Development, 2023
Student & Faulty Elected Honoree, Indigenous Scholar, Northwestern University, 2023
AERA Scholars of Color Mid-Career Award,2023
American Education Research Association – Bobby Wright Award for Early Career Contributions to Research in Indigenous Education, 2015
American Education Research Association, Division K, Teaching and Teacher Education, Early Career Award, 2015

Natural Habitat Evanston, a program of Climate Action Evanston, is an all-volunteer community group of about 1,300 members, spreading the word on creating habitat for insects, birds, and other wildlife. We aim to change the culture of lawns: leaving your leaves is the simplest first step; the second step is adding a native shrub or tree to shrink your lawn. We show how to transition from turf with low-cost cardboard methods, which keystone native plants to choose for year-round forage, that insects chewing on leaves is a ‘win’ (rather than cause to reach for pesticide), how turning off unnecessary lights saves insect and birds (and human health), and how to make your windows bird-friendly (because if you are going to invite birds to your yard, let them visit safely). We plant a lot of native trees and shrubs, especially at schools and in the 5th Ward.

We encourage people to think outside the lawn with No Mow May. Our Pollinator Pledge is a central focus of all our outreach and education, and a great way to spread the word to your neighbors.

We encourage people to think outside the lawn with No Mow May. Our Pollinator Pledge is a central focus of all our outreach and education, and a great way to spread the word to your neighbors.