Mike Klymkowsky, the son of German and Ukrainian immigrants, is a renowned biologist and professor who has been part of the Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental faculty at CU Boulder since 1983. He holds degrees in biophysics from Penn State and CalTech and has done post-doctoral work at University College London and the Rockefeller University. His research has focused on neurotransmitter receptor structure, cytoskeletal and ciliary organization and function, and developmental signaling systems. He is also passionate about improving science education and has developed the NSF-supported Biology Concepts Instrument and a suite of virtual laboratory activities with his colleagues.
Klymkowsky has collaborated with Professor Melanie Cooper to develop open education resources (OER) course materials in chemistry, organic chemistry, and biology, which incorporate web-based interactive graphical beSocratic activities. These materials aim to help students recognize and apply underlying principles and have been shown to have a positive impact on student engagement and learning outcomes. He has also co-directed CU’s science teacher recruitment and certification program and participated in various education research talks and programs.
Klymkowsky’s contributions to science education have earned him numerous awards and honors, including being named a Pew Biomedical Scholar and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He was also recognized as the 2013 Outstanding Undergraduate Science Teacher by the Society for College Science Teaching and received teaching excellence awards from the Boulder Faculty Assembly and the UC Boulder campus for his contributions to the use of OER course materials. Klymkowsky shares his insights and research findings regularly on his blog, bioliteracy.blog.
