Vashti Sawtelle, associate professor of physics at Michigan State University, has been elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society. This honor is considered one of the most prestigious recognitions in the field of physics and is awarded to no more than one half of one percent of the Society’s membership each year.

The APS Fellowship Program was created for those in the physics community to recognize professional peers who have contributed to advances in physics through original research and publication, innovative applications, teaching of physics, or and service and participation in the APS.

Sawtelle, a faculty member in the MSU Lyman Briggs College and the Department of Physics and Astronomy, was nominated “for foundational research on self-efficacy, introductory physics for life sciences, and community college student persistence; for broadening participation and promoting engagement among all physics students; and for enduring contributions to the rigorous use of qualitative methods.”

Sawtelle is a physics education researcher who studies how learning environments support (or inhibit) students from diverse backgrounds in their physics learning. Co-director of the MSU Physics Education Research Lab, she focuses her National Science Foundation-funded work on supporting community college transfer students to transition to four-year universities and understanding the role classroom environments play in creating supportive learning environments for all students.