Research Interests

Sara Tolbert (Tangata Tiriti) is Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education at University of Canterbury in Aotearoa New Zealand, previously Associate Professor in Teaching, Learning, and Sociocultural Studies at the University of Arizona (USA). Sara is a former science and ESOL teacher and environmental educator, and has worked with students in multilingual contexts in the USA, Aotearoa New Zealand, Mexico, and Guatemala. She earned her Bachelors degree in Environmental Studies from University of Colorado-Boulder (USA), her Masters degree/Teaching Credential with ESOL endorsement from the University of Georgia (USA), and PhD in Social Contexts of Education and Science Education from the University of California-Santa Cruz (USA). Her scholarship draws from feminist studies, anti-colonial/critical theory, environmental humanities, science-and-technology-studies, and critical pedagogy to explore possibilities for justice through science and education in the Anthropocene(s). Some of her current projects include Postdigital Pedagogies of Care, Pāngarau Unleashed: a Multiple Case Study of De-streaming Secondary Mathematics, Freire: A Praxis of Radical Love and Critical Hope for Science Education, and Reimagining Science Education in the Anthropocene. She co-leads the Ōtautahi Food Justice Research Collaborative, a UC CURe initiative, and the UC Learning for Earth Futures research cluster.