Pamela Gilchrist
Pamela Gilchrist, director of K-12 Programs for the Innovation Campus, brings 20 years of experience in developing multidisciplinary K-12 programs across the United States and within the public schools of North Carolina. Through partnerships, including with the Alexandria City Public Schools, Gilchrist enhances the Innovation Campus mission to inspire young people to pursue STEM education.
Gilchrist is the former director of The Science House’s Anderson and Imhotep Academies at North Carolina State University. The programs she directed at North Carolina State were geared toward providing K-12 science, technology, engineering, and mathematics programming (STEM) for underrepresented and underserved populations. She was responsible for the oversight, development, and evaluation of synchronous and asynchronous STEM programs for students, teachers, and parents across the state of North Carolina.
Gilchrist is an advocate for equity and has served as a leader in multiple organizations, including as past president of both the North Carolina Science Leadership Association and the North Carolina Science Fair Foundation. She has also served internationally as a science and technology educator in the United Kingdom.
Her research interests are in STEM programs, equity, teacher professional development, curriculum development, workforce development, adoption of innovations, and multidisciplinary partnerships. Gilchrist has developed and presented workshops across North and Central America, Europe, and East Asia. She also has numerous publications that inform research and practice communities. Gilchrist has also garnered a number of grants for her programs from public agencies such as the National Science Foundation and from private foundations totaling in the millions of dollars.
Gilchrist holds a Ph.D. in educational research and policy analysis, an M.S. in instructional technology, and a B.S. in middle grades education.
At Virginia Tech, Gilchrist partners across the broader university and organizations to provide pathways in STEM and to higher learning with the School of Education, the Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology, the Center for the Enhancement of Engineering Diversity the Center for Educational Networks and Impacts, the College Access Collaborative, 4-H, the Department of Engineering Education, and Link-License-Launch.