Elizabeth Howell

Dr. Elizabeth Howell is the Science Department chair at NDA High School, in addition to teaching 9th-grade Biology, Honors Biology, AP Biology, and, in recent years Chemistry.  With a Ph.D. in Genetics and Cell Biology from Harvard University and 12 years of college teaching experience as a professor at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, she brings an investigative, hands-on, student-centered approach to all of her classrooms.

After completing her undergraduate degree in Biology at Yale University, Dr. Howell performed biomedical research at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. She chose to focus on the genetics of the cell cycle for her Ph.D. work and completed post-doctoral research at Northwestern University prior to taking a position at Calvin College. While teaching Cell Biology and Genetics there and achieving tenure, Dr. Howell also maintained a research lab.

“Teaching is my main passion, and I welcome the opportunity to work with the bright young women at NDA every day, preparing them to be critical thinkers, self-directed learners, and scientists.” Preparation for college-level scholarship informs all of her teaching, starting in the 9th-grade Biology courses and continuing through senior-level AP Biology. Dr. Howell’s students leave NDA with a passion for science and are well prepared to master college Biology and laboratory courses.

Most recently, Dr. Howell has been instrumental in bringing a Robotics and Entrepreneurship program to NDA.  In collaboration with Ms. Abeeha Alam of the Science and Math Departments, she is participating in a program funded by NYU-Tandon School of Engineering designed to bring robotics and entrepreneurship into New York City high schools.  The Robotics team is new this year, but is already off to a great start, programming Parallax Cyber-bot robots. In the Spring, the team will design a Vex Clawbot robot and prepare a marketing plan as they participate in an “Innovention” symposium at NYU.