Mandy Dunphy, Ph.D.

Dr. Mandy Dunphy is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Elementary STEM Education in the Department of Curriculum & Instruction at Baylor University. She earned her Ph.D. in 2024 from the University of Iowa in Science Education with an emphasis in environmental science. 

As a former elementary and middle school science teacher, Dr. Dunphy co-authored and implemented OER curriculum in Iowa that connected students to place-based understandings of land and climate change. Her work centered on a multigenerational unit in which students engaged family members to explore how local environments have changed over time through storytelling. This approach reflects her belief that change begins by listening across differences, especially seeking to understand those whose perspectives may be most challenging, so that more inclusive and sustainable futures can be imagined together. This learning was further deepened through partnerships with climatologists and environmental scientist, allowing students to analyze real-world data and connect personal narratives to broader environmental patterns. 

Now, as a teacher educator, Dr. Dunphy prepares elementary preservice teachers to engage in inquiry-based science through the lens of environmental education. She works with future teachers to design learning experiences that position young children as sense makers. This work is critical because early elementary classrooms are often where children first form relationships with science, nature, and their sense of responsibility toward the environment. By equipping teachers to foster curiosity, dialogue, and agency from the earliest grades, she aims to support a generation of learners who see themselves as capable of understanding and caring for the Earth as a shared “common home.”