"We cannot improve, technology cannot advance, and relationships will not heal, if we do not critically examine our past and present and have the courage to act for a better future."
- Dr. JoAnn S. Roberts

Dr. JoAnn S. Roberts (she/her) is a Bermuda-born Jamaican who immigrated to the United States in her elementary school years. She is the last of three children from her parents who were both K-12 teachers. She has a STEM background and received her doctorate in Molecular and Cellular Biology and Pathobiology from the Medical University of South Carolina.  

JoAnn has a passion for people which is evident in her years dedicated teaching, mentorship, and service.  Over the course of her academic career, she has published research in the fields of Oral Cellular Microbiology, Corneal (Eye) Biology, and Biology Education. In her current role with the Center for Education Innovation & Learning in the Sciences (CEILS) at the University of California Los Angeles, JoAnn leads workshops on inclusive and equitable teaching and mentoring practices, as well as anti-racist educator workshops for faculty, postdocs, and graduate students. She also leads a grant-funded mentored vision science summer research program for undergraduate students from Historically Black College & University (HBCU) institutions.
 
JoAnn teaches Human Biology as well as other seminar courses on engaging with scientific literature using the CREATES method, pedagogy strategies and metacognition, imposter phenomenon and more. She is also a CIRTL Scholar and values teaching students to be self-regulated and metacognitive and recently published her teaching tool for integrating metacognitive regulation in the online classroom using student-developed learning plans (JMBE, 2021).