AACT Member Spotlight: Noe Gomez



Every month AACT spotlights a passionate member who is dedicated to enhancing chemistry inside and outside the classroom. This month, we spotlight Noe Gomez. He teaches chemistry at Carpinteria High School and Santa Barbara City College in Santa Barbara, California. 

Tell us about yourself.
Originally trained as an animal biochemist, I am now a high school and community college chemistry instructor. In college, I specialized in nutritional biochemistry through the lens of livestock production; feeding the world requires efficiency, which can stem at the molecular-level.

It was during my animal science undergraduate studies at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, that chemistry ‘clicked’. A huge shout-out to Drs. Kiste, Keeling, Costanzo, Carroll, and Rice of the Cal Poly Chemistry Department who showed me how to apply chemistry to my animal science degree. This application propelled me to graduate school, research, numerous published peer-reviewed articles, and even publishing a textbook!

Simplifying the intricate nature of chemistry to students is my passion. I rely on the teachings from my aforementioned mentors to develop the best vantage-point for student learning. Chemistry wasn’t always easy for me, but it is arguably the most important stepping-stone for science students as the bridge between physical and life sciences.

I received my B.S. in animal science from the California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. From there, I earned my M.S. in animal biology from the University of California, Davis. Subsequently, I attained my Ed.S. in science education through the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. My teaching credentials are from the University of Massachusetts, Global, while my bilingual teaching authorization is through the University of California, Los Angeles. Most recently, (through ACS support!) I was able to obtain an additional M.S. in chemistry education through Grand Canyon University. I am now enrolled in an Ed.D. program in science education through Indiana University where I specialize in the curriculum and instruction of biochemistry. I am also a proud National Board Certified Teacher in Chemistry Education.

Why did you become a teacher? Did you always want to teach? 

Rather ironically, I never wanted to be a high school teacher. I come from a family of educators; four cousins and two aunts are teachers, another four cousins and one aunt are school counselors, and one of my cousins is a principal. Although I was regularly nudged into the direction of K-12 education, I was always reluctant to take any leads.

After graduating with my master’s in animal biology, I enrolled in a doctorate program in molecular bioscience at Washington State University, Pullman, where I researched nutrigenomics and tissue biology. My goal was to be a researcher/instructor at the university-level. However, a twist in my personal health led me to take a sabbatical which landed me back in my hometown and the forfeiting of my initial doctoral endeavors. Left without a job and health insurance, I applied to an opening for a career and technical education teaching position at my high school alma mater.

I am now in my 8th year of teaching science at the high school-level, in addition to serving as an adjunct faculty member at my local community college, Santa Barbara City College.

More importantly, I have found that I actually DO enjoy teaching. Belonging to an organization such as AACT makes all the difference in helping me feel supported and valued as an educator.

What fuels your passion for science and teaching?

I am originally trained as an animal biochemist; emphasis on the ‘bio-’. Biology has always come naturally to me, but that is not the case for chemistry. I feel as if I had to mentally work twice as hard to comprehend chemistry compared to my life science courses. Yet this is probably the reason I have developed such a passion for teaching chemistry.

In my first few years as an educator I solely taught life sciences, concepts that I can describe in my sleep. However, for some reason I felt ‘bored’ teaching these topics. I remember being mortified when I was told that I was being assigned to teach chemistry, a discipline that I remember struggling a lot with as a student. However, when I began to teach chemistry, I knew I had discovered the perfect subject to teach.

The level of excitement and patience that I feel when I teach chemistry is continuous. Every day I wake up looking forward to explaining new concepts. If a student does not understand a concept in chemistry, I find joy in coming up with two, three, or four different explanations to clarify misconceptions. I see my past-self in my students every day, so I feel rewarded to know that I can be a source of support for them in a beautifully-complex subject that explains who we are at the atomic and molecular levels.

How do you monitor the progress of your students? How do you ensure under-performers excel?

I use daily packet/homework/exit-ticket checks. This allows me to speak to each student individually for at least 20-30 seconds per day. This may seem like a short period of time, but the key is in the word ‘each’. Far too often individual students can go under-the-radar in classrooms, and this leads to academic and social downward-spirals. By initiating a quick conversation with every single student while checking their work helps me determine if I need to pull them aside to talk about misconceptions in chemistry or to give a pep-talk regarding other social manners. The counseling team at my school is amazing and responsive at reaching out to any student who I determine to be in need of additional support. This ensures that I can help establish a quick safety net to any student who I feel may need holistic support.

Why did you become involved with AACT? What are the benefits of being involved?

I became involved with AACT and ACS to stay abreast with other professionals in the field of chemistry. There is great value in being involved with professional societies. Everything from networking to learning, or mentoring to scholarships can be found through AACT and ACS. For example, resources such as the ChemMatters Magazine are an invaluable resource to offer engaging and approachable quick lessons to students on a variety of topics. Meanwhile, resources such as the Funding and Awards available from ACS have been critical to my development as an educator. I am actually a proud recipient of the ACS-Hach Professional Development award. With this grant, I was able to get funding to pursue additional credits needed to secure my master’s degree in chemistry, which eventually allowed me to teach chemistry at the community college-level. Thus, being a member of AACT and ACS has been beneficial to my growth as an educator at numerous levels of detail, and has therefore played a direct role in the education my students receive.

Share some words of wisdom to other chemists.

My days are easiest when I remember that my goal shouldn’t be to make every single student a chemist. Perhaps 3-5% of my students will pursue chemistry in college, with a few more studying an intersecting discipline such as biochemistry. Making sure that my course is accessible, pleasant, and engaging to the remaining 80-90% of students is the key that makes the profession so enjoyable. Guiding the chemically-driven to establish an environment where they can thrive themselves, while being role-models and leaders for the remaining non-chemically-driven makes for an amazing classroom environment. Additionally, being honest sometimes goes a long way: “The majority of you will probably never write out electron configuration ever again in your life, but at least remember that it helps explain the foundations of why atoms bond, and more importantly…” I find myself reminding students that chemistry is all about application and about teaching us to appreciate how atomic interactions apply to daily life.

The book, Make it Stick by Brown, Roediger, and McDaniel changed the way that I value pedagogy; their recommendation to regularly include retrieval, spaced repetition, and interleaving in courses is invaluable. I love to assess students regularly, in low-stakes situations, and with appropriate support systems in place. I am a firm believer that if students feel they can succeed, they will be more willing to try something outside of their comfort zone.