Suzanne Kapelari

Suzanne Kapelari serves as Head of the Department of Didactics of Natural Sciences, Geography, Computer Science and Mathematics (DiNGIM) at the University of Innsbruck's Faculty of Teacher Education since 2005. Originally from New York, USA, she resides in Innsbruck and maintains deep ties to the Botanical Garden in Hötting.

Her research focuses on practical science education, emphasizing hands-on sustainability teaching for children and adults. Kapelari pioneered the Green School in the Botanical Garden and integrates interdisciplinary approaches through projects like EU's BigPicnic on food safety. She collaborates extensively with architecture professors Stefan Rutzinger and Kristina Schinegger on educational infrastructure design.

Kapelari's career uniquely blends biology expertise (her original passion since age 14) with teacher training, overcoming early discouragement from pursuing zoology. She champions knowledge dissemination as inherently valuable, stating: "knowledge is not a contagious disease that you have to protect yourself from."

Her educational philosophy centers on connecting academic research with real-world application, demonstrated through school garden projects where hornet-friendly architecture and chicken coops become teaching tools. This approach extends to mentoring through practical demonstration, such as using a rope to visualize human anatomy.