Richard D. Colwell

Seattle, WA 98144

I am an NSF Graduate Research Fellow pursuing my PhD in the Materials Science & Engineering Department at the University of Washington. In Professor Eleftheria Roumeli’s group, I explore biomass-derived materials for sustainability applications. I am particularly interested in studying fundamental structure-property relationships to engineer high-performing biomaterials to replace incumbent fossil-derived plastics.

Previously, I earned my BS in Materials Science & Engineering at MIT, where I conducted a viability study of a low-cost cleaning method for solar panels, advised by Prof. Rafael Jaramillo. After graduating, I developed plant-based meat alternatives at Tender Food (f.k.a. Boston Meats). Later, at Amazon Worldwide Sustainability, I tested biobased packaging solutions to derisk solutions while implementing more sustainable materials.

I am also passionate about education and outreach. I have experience as a teaching assistant for various courses, and have volunteered with organizations including STEM Pals, the Middle East Entrepreneurs of Tomorrow, and the Educational Studies Program.

Outside of lab, I keep myself busy with an assortment of activities including:

Listening to -- and writing -- music
Experimenting with how to healthify recipes
Home fermentation projects
Putting numbers in spreadsheets to catalogue sensory experiences with my fiancé, Will

selected publications

Berkeley Rev. Educ.

What’s lost, what’s left, what’s next: Lessons learned from the lived experiences of teachers during the pandemic

Christopher John Buttimer, Richard Colwell, Dan Coleman, and 3 more authors

Berkeley Rev. Educ., Sep 2022

Abs DOI

To understand the experiences of educators during the 2020 extended school closures, we interviewed 40 teachers from across the country in public, charter, and private schools, at different grade levels, and in different subject areas. Teachers articulated three main concerns about emergency remote schooling: 1.) student motivation; 2.) professional loss and burnout; and 3.) exacerbated inequities. As the climate emergency makes school disruptions more common, school systems must learn from the tragic school closings under COVID-19 to prepare for an uncertain future. We propose five design considerations to build school systems with greater resilience for the long-term: center equity, focus on relationship-building, address student motivation, address staff motivation and burnout, and mitigate uncertainty.
Tech. Pedagog. Ed.

Remote language revitalisation efforts during COVID-19

Grahm Wiley-Camacho, Garron Hillaire, Christopher J Buttimer, and 1 more author

Technol. Pedagog. Educ., May 2022

Abs DOI

As schools shift to online instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important to support disenfranchised populations and keep issues of equity at the centre of our response. In this study, the authors focus on supporting one of the few urban-based Indigenous language schools in the United States because language revitalisation is critical for Native American communities. The authors explore the extent to which video conferencing and flipped classrooms support the development of a community of speakers. The study focuses on a single classroom of 16 students in first through third grade. The authors use a digital decolonisation framework focused on empowering local communities in conjunction with design-based research methodology to explore contextualised remote instruction solutions. They report on benefits for the development of a community of speakers from remote instruction that come with costs in reduced efficacy of language learning. Finally, they distil those results into preliminary design principles.