Sara B Sweetman, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Education in the College of Education and Professional Studies at the University of Rhode Island (URI) and directs the Guiding Education in Math and Science Network (GEMS-Net), a school-university partnership focused continual improvement in STEM teaching and learning. Beginning in the Fall of 2024, Sara will lead the new Environmental Education degree program at URI. Sara is an advisor for children’s media development and productions, including the CBP-PBS Ready to Learn Initiative and Sesame Street. Sara’s research interests focus on educational animation and children's media, gender diverse collaboration in STEM, and multimodal engagement for learning.