Tara Kishbaugh

Dr. Tara L.S. Kishbaugh was appointed to the role of academic dean in July 2019. Prior to that role, Dr. Kishbaugh held the role of chair of the biology, chemistry, and environmental science programs. Tara obtained her undergraduate degree in chemistry from Wheaton College and her graduate degree in organic chemistry at Dartmouth College under the mentorship of Gordon W. Gribble.  Her graduate studies focused on the reactivity of electron deficient indoles. During graduate school, she spent a year teaching organic chemistry at St. Michael’s College, Winooski, Vermont. Afterwards, she was a Dreyfus postdoctoral fellow at the University of Massachusetts, North Dartmouth campus. During this position, she taught as well as worked with fluorinated allenes. At EMU, Dr. Kishbaugh has taught a variety of courses, including organic, general, medicinal, and environmental chemistry as well as seminars on ethics, land use, and food chemistry. Tara has been involved in a number of trans-disciplinary projects on campus, such as EMU Common Reads, a common reading program. Tara’s chemistry-related hobbies include photography, baking, and tie-dying. Tara’s research interests include chemical education, heterocyclic chemistry, and water quality studies.

Dr. Kishbaugh’s research interests include
- Chemical education projects, such as assessing non-content learning in laboratory research projects, or
- Assessing student familiarity with and understanding of green chemistry, or
- Improving student’s engagement with math coursework by adding contextual relevance to the assignments
- Writing review chapters on heterocyclic chemistry- in particular indoles and pyridines
- Water quality monitoring in the local watershed related to bacterial contamination, run-off or hydrofracking.

• STEM Scholars Engaging in Local Problems. Tian, E.; Showalter, D.; Kishbaugh, T.L.S.; Barge, S. ASEE 2022 Conference: Excellence through diversity. Minneapolis, MN, June 26-29, 2022.

• Transforming Teaching: Moving Faculty from "Neutral" to Equity in Teaching.  Kishbaugh, T.L.S.; Leaman, L. Diversity, Equity, & Student Success Conference: Engaged Inclusivity: Perceptions, Realities, & Aspirations, an AACU Conference, Pittsburgh, PA, March 28-30, 2019

• Attending to T&L: Sociocultural faculty development for diversity-responsive SoTL.  Kishbaugh, T.L.S.; Leaman, L. SoTL Commons Conference, Savannah, GA, January 24-25, 2019. 

• Faculty Identity Development for Culturally Responsive Teaching. Kishbaugh, T.; Leaman, L. 10th Annual Understanding Interventions Conference: The Decade Ahead, Baltimore, MD, March 2-4, 2018.
• Improving retention through teaching strategies and peer tutoring. Cessna, S.; Kishbaugh, T. 254th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, Washington, DC, August 20-24, 2017.
• Mixed methods study of green chemistry understanding from the organic laboratory. King, Rachel; Kishbaugh, T.L.S. 250th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, Boston, MA, August 16-20, 2015.
• Assessing learning gains in green chemistry labs. Kishbaugh, T.L.S. 23nd Biennial Conference on Chemical Education, Grand Valley State University, Grand Rapids, MI. August 3-7, 2014.
• Early authentic research projects and teaching the nature of science. *Cessna,S.; Kishbaugh, T.L.S. 23nd Biennial Conference on Chemical Education, Grand Valley State University, Grand Rapids, MI. August 3-7, 2014.
• Organic blueberry sweetness: Percentage Brix and taste tests. Groff, N. Sachs, J.; Kishbaugh, T.L.S.; Miller, R. Virginia Academy of Sciences at VCU, May 15, 2014.
• Service learning to enhance the environmental chemistry curriculum. Kishbaugh, T.L.S.; Graber Neufeld, D. 22nd Biennial Conference on Chemical Education, State College, Pa. July 29-August 2, 2012.
• Implementing a ‘Research Across the Curriculum’ program in the chemistry and biology departments. Kishbaugh, T.L.S.; Cessna, S. 22nd Biennial Conference on Chemical Education, State College, Pa. July 29-August 2, 2012.
• A report on using copper phytoremediation projects for teaching second semester general chemistry concepts and skills. Cessna, S.; Kishbaugh, T.L.S. 22nd Biennial Conference on Chemical Education, State College, Pa. July 29-August 2, 2012.
• Tracking the development of the nature of science understanding over an undergraduate STEM career. Cessna, S.; Kishbaugh, T.L.S. 22nd Biennial Conference on Chemical Education, State College, Pa. July 29-August 2, 2012.
• Promoting Learning through Authentic and Relevant Research Experiences in Environmental Monitoring and Remediation across Ten Chemistry and Biology Courses. S Cessna, T Flanagan, D Graber Neufeld, SJ Horst, T Kishbaugh, L Leaman, M Siderhurst. CCLI- TUES Conference, Washington, D.C. January 26-28, 2011.

Building and Maintaining a Collegial Department, 2018 Workshop for Department and Division Chairs, Minneapolis, MN, May 22-24, 2018.

• Organized a symposium on Increasing Retention of Under-represented Students in Chemistry for the ACS national meeting, August, 2017.
• Ad-hoc reviewer for Higher Education Pedagogies, Current Organic Chemistry, Letters in Drug Design and Discovery, Studies in Natural Product Chemistry and American Chemical Society- Petroleum Research Fund Undergraduate Research Proposals
• At-large member of the Shenandoah Resource Conservation & Development Council 2011-2013

• National Science Foundation, S-STEM: STEM Scholars Engaging in Local Problems $649,996 (award ID: 1741937). PI: T.Kishbaugh, Co-PI: S.Cessna, D. King, D. Showalter, E. Tian (1/2018-1/2023).
• 2016-2017 Senior Leadership Seminar of the VA Network for Women in Higher Eduction.
• Faculty-Led Institutional Transformation for Teaching Diverse Learners in STEM — A National Science Foundation IUSE grant , $299,967 (PI: Cessna, Co-PIs: Kishbaugh, Leaman, Showalter) 2016.
• VDACS: “Sustaining Organic Blueberry Production: Analysis of Practices and Assessing Outcomes.” Program director: Roman J Miller. Co-PI: S. Cessna, T.L.S. Kishbaugh. (11/2011-10/2013)
• National Science Foundation, Course, Curriculum and Laboratory Improvement. Promoting learning through authentic and relevant research experiences in environmental monitoring and remediation across ten chemistry and biology laboratory courses Co-PI with S. Cessna, L. H. Leaman, M. Siderhurst, and D. Graber Neufeld. 2009-13.
• Citizen Monitoring Grant from the Va Department of Environmental Quality, 2009.
• National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Institute: Regional Study and the Liberal Arts: An Appalachian Exemplar, Ferrum College, Ferrum, Va, Summer 2006
• American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund Summer Fellowship with Gordon W. Gribble at Dartmouth College, Summer 2005, Topic: Oxidative radical additions to nitroindoles.

• American Chemical Society
• Eastern Mennonite University’s Institutional Representative to Virginia Network, part of the ACE Women’s Network

Assessment 101, JMU Center for Assessment and Research Studies, online, June 13-17, 2022

ACE Va Network State Conference, Roanoke, Va, June 2022

Teaching, Learning, & Technology Conference 2022, online

EMU Strategies for Trauma Resilience and Awareness,- Level one, Fall 2020

AAC&U's Institute on General Education & Assessment, online, June 2020

SoTL Commons Conference, Savannah, GA, January 24-25, 2019. 

CIC Workshop for Department & Division Chairs, Virginia Beach, VA April 11-13, 2019 

10th Annual Understanding Interventions Conference: The Decade Ahead, Baltimore, MD, March 2-4, 2018.
254th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, Washington, DC, August 20-24, 2017.

Academic Council 2020-present

CoChair of Center for Teaching & Learning Committee, 2021- present

Core Revision Committee 2020-2022 

Provost Council 2019-present

President's Cabinet 2019-present

DNP Oversight Board 2019- present

Space Needs Assessment taskforce 2021- present

Faculty Status Committee 2019-present

Undergraduate Council 2013-2020
Undergraduate Council Executive 2013-2020, chair 
Pre-Professional Health Sciences, ongoing 
Intellectual Life, 2009- 2016, chair 2012- 2016