April Luehmann

April Luehmann is an Associate Professor in the School of Teaching & Curriculum at the Warner School of the University of Rochester. She joined in 2002, specializing in science education and teacher preparation. Her research focuses on justice-centered science teaching, professional identity development, and the integration of emergent technologies like augmented reality in education.

Education:

• PhD, University of Michigan (Science Education; Industrial and Operations Engineering)
• MS, University of Michigan (Science Education; Industrial and Operations Engineering)
• BA, Concordia University (Secondary Education; Mathematics)

Research Interests: Luehmann explores how teachers establish justice-oriented classroom norms, designs transdisciplinary environmental programs for rural teens, and investigates technologies to support inclusive collaborative learning. She leads the NSF-funded DRK-12 grant studying classroom culture units and justice-centered practices.

Grants & Awards:

• NSF Discovery Research PreK-12 (DRK-12) Grant (current)
• Science STARS NSF Grant ($1.25M, 2011–2015)
• 2008 Excellence in Teaching Award

Program Leadership: She co-leads an innovative teacher education program merging in-school and out-of-school learning, including a climate action camp for rural teens. Her work emphasizes culturally sustaining pedagogy and multimedia scientific representation to foster disciplinary identities.