Dr. Patchen’s research and practice work center on education, with foci on equitable access to science learning in both formal and informal settings, and teaching people to use science to improve human and ecosystem health in their communities. Special interests include:

• Teaching people how to use scientific methods and data to address environmental/health challenges and improve health in their communities.
• Factors affecting access to learning about science and environmental topics for diverse audiences in formal and informal settings.
• Curriculum and instruction related to engaged learning, systems thinking, One Health, climate change, evidence-based writing, and equity.
• Positioning young people as active change agents who can improve health in their communities.

• Ph.D. – Boston College, Curriculum and Instruction, 2017
• M.S.Ed – State University of New York at Cortland, Literacy Education Grades 5-12, 2012
• M.A.T – National Louis University, Secondary Education with a concentration in Physical Science, 2008
• B.A. with High Honors – Oberlin College, Biochemistry, 2006

Dr. Patchen is a Lecturer with Cornell’s Public Health Program in the Department of Public and Ecosystem Health, College of Veterinary Medicine, and the Concentration Chief for the Public Health Program’s concentration in Environment, Climate, and Health.  She teaches core courses for MPH students focused on the foundations of public health, One Health, systems thinking, evidence-based writing, health equity, and addressing complex problems to improve human and ecosystem health.  Before becoming a Lecturer, she worked as a Postdoctoral Associate with the Public Health Program on the Healthy Kids, Healthy Planet project examining factors affecting access to nature in elementary schools.

Prior to this, Dr. Patchen had various roles on projects related to science education + equity.  This has included teaching high school students to use hydroponics to address food deserts in their neighborhoods and a citizen/public science project collecting and sharing air quality data with communities (as a doctoral student at Boston College), global health case studies for a Cornell program in Tanzania (Cornell Global Health Program), local food system work in Tompkins County (Childhood Nutrition Collaborative), food system outreach in New York State (Cornell Community Nutrition), and high school chemistry and Earth science (Chicago Public Schools).

1. Patchen, A.K., Rakow, D.A., Wells, N.M., Hillson, S., & Meredith, G.R. (2022). Barriers to children’s outdoor time: teachers’ and principals’ experiences in elementary schools, Environmental Education Research, DOI: 10.1080/13504622.2022.2099530

2. Meredith, G., Patchen, A., Baker, A. (2020). Community Engaged Teaching, Research and Practice - a Catalyst for Public Health Improvement through Workforce Development and Collective Action? Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, 26, 1, 75-100.
3. Patchen, A., DeLisi, J., Jose, D., Aeschlimann, A., Vera-Cruz, A., Kamath, A., Madden, P., Rupani, R., & Barnett, M. (2017). Seeding the Future: Blending urban gardening with community outreach and STEM learning. Connected Science Learning. Retrieved from http://csl.nsta.org/2017/05/seeding-the-future/.
4. Patchen, A.K., Zhang, L., & Barnett, M. (2017). Growing plants and scientists: Fostering positive attitudes toward science among all participants in an afterschool hydroponics program. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 26, 279-294.
5. Kozan, S., Blustein, D., Barnett, M., Wong, C., Connors-Kellgren, A., Haley, J., Patchen, A., Olle, C., Diemer, M., Floyd, A., Tan, B., Wan, D. (2017). Awakening, Efficacy, and Action: A Qualitative Inquiry of a Social Justice-Infused, Science Education Program. Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy, 17, 205-234.
6. Patchen, A.K., Rupani, R., & Barnett, M. (2016). Sensor Networks and Community Data: Building Knowledge around Local Air Quality.  Sustain, 33, 34-40.
7. DeBay, D. J., Patchen, A.K., Cruz, A. C. V., Madden, P. E., Xu, Y., Houle, M., & Barnett, M. (2015). Coupling geospatial and computer modeling technologies to engage high school students in learning urban ecology. In M. J. Urban & D. A. Falvo (Eds.), Improving K-12 STEM Education Outcomes through Technological Integration: IGI Publishing.
8. Patchen, A.K., DeBay, D.J., Barnett, M.,& Strauss, E. (2014). Engaging Students in Scientific Inquiry: Successes and Challenges of Engaging Non-science Majors in Scientific Inquiry.  In P. Blessinger  & J. M. Carfora, Eds. Inquiry-based Learning for Faculty and Institutional Development: A Conceptual and Practical Resource for Educators (Innovations in Higher Education Teaching and Learning, Volume 1). Emerald Group Publishing Limited, pp.271 – 289.
9. Mark, S., DeBay, D., Zhang, L., Haley, J., Patchen, A., Wong, C., & Barnett, M. (2013).  Coupling social justice and Out-of-School time learning to provide opportunities to motivate engage and interest under-represented populations in STEM fields. Journal of Career Planning and Adult Development, 29(2), 93-105.
10. Craig, N. C., Leyden, M. C., Moore, M. C., Patchen, A. K., Heuvel, T., Blake, T. A., Masiello, T., Sams, R. L. (2010). A reevaluation of the assignment of the vibrational fundamentals and the rotational analysis of bands in the high-resolution infrared spectra of trans- and cis-1,3,5-hexatriene. Journal of Molecular Spectroscopy, 262, 1, 49-60.
11. Patchen, A. K., Pennino, M. J., Kiep, A. C., & Elrod, M. J. (2007). Direct kinetics study of the product-forming channels of the reaction of isoprene-derived hydroxyperoxy radicals with NO. International Journal of Chemical Kinetics, 39, 6, 353-361.
12. Craig, N. C., Moore, M. C., Patchen, A. K., & Sams, R. L. (2006). Analysis of rotational structure in the high-resolution infrared spectrum and assignment of vibrational fundamentals of butadiene-2,3-^1^3C"2. Journal of Molecular Spectroscopy,235, 2, 181-189. 
13. Patchen, A.K., Pennino, M.J., & Elrod, M.J. (2005). Overall rate constant measurements of the reaction of chloroalkylperoxy radicals with nitric oxide. Journal of Physical Chemistry A, 109, 5865-5871.