Fellow Profiles

Biography

Mubina Khan is a high school biology and psychology teacher from the New Explorations in Science, Technology and Math School (NEST+m) in New York, New York. While her original field was psychology, Mübina Khan has been involved with science education for the past seven years. She initially started working with the Intervention for Achievement project run at Columbia University by Dr. Lisa Sorich Blackwell and got hooked on the dynamics of the classroom atmosphere. She ended up as a science teacher and has taught Regents-level biology, introductory psychology, developmental psychology, Advanced Placement biology and science research courses to diverse groups of students. Her most recent position was at New Explorations in Science, Technology and Math (NEST+m), a public school located on Manhattan's Lower East Side where she had the honor of being the high school's first life sciences teacher. It's always a challenge to be a teacher in a new school but with the some effort and the help of the other science faculty, NEST+m ended up with a sound science curriculum. In addition to developing curriculum and teaching various biology, research and psychology courses, Ms. Khan was also involved with student activities such as the Intel Science Research Club, Film Club, community service, Psychology Club and Philosophy Club.

"Growing up in Jamaica, Queens, I attended some public schools that were extremely tough. I often felt lost as a student," Ms. Khan said. As a teacher in a public school now, often working with students from diverse and troubled backgrounds, she sees that the same sorts of problems persist. Mubina Khan hopes to help address the income gap in education during her time as an Einstein Fellow. She believes that, "Government and community organizations should focus on equalizing the playing field."

Mubina Khan has won the "Teachers Who Make a Difference Award" from the New York Times, the NEST+m Parent-Teacher Science Teaching Award and was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute research fellow while in college. Her latest research at New York University (where she has done her graduate work) was on single-sex education and the resulting classroom experience of students.