Gale M. Sinatra is the Stephen H. Crocker Professor of Education and a Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Education at the USC Rossier School of Education. She holds a joint appointment as Professor in the Psychology Department at the USC Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. Sinatra earned her B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Her research specializes in educational psychology, focusing on cognitive, motivational, and emotional processes that facilitate conceptual change learning, science education, and public understanding of science. Key areas include climate science education, evolution education, epistemic cognition, motivated reasoning, and the role of emotions in learning about controversial scientific topics. She directs the Motivated Change Research Lab at USC, which examines factors leading to attitude and conceptual change in STEM learning.

Sinatra joined USC in 2012 as Professor at Rossier School of Education and was named to the Stephen H. Crocker Chair in 2018 and Distinguished Professor in 2024. She currently serves as Associate Dean for Research at Rossier (2022-2025) and previously held positions including Interim Graduate Dean at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (2003-2006). A prominent leader, she was elected President of the American Psychological Association Division 15, Educational Psychology (2017), and Vice President of the American Educational Research Association Division C, Learning and Instruction (2009). She is a Fellow of APA Division 15 (2007), AERA Division C (2009), and the Society for Text and Discourse (2016), and was elected to the National Academy of Education (2022). Notable awards include the AERA Division C Sylvia Scribner Award (2020), USC Rossier School of Education Excellence in Research Award (2021), and the International Award for Excellence from the International Journal of Climate Change (2013). Sinatra has authored or edited books such as Science Denial: Why It Happens and What to Do About It (Oxford University Press, 2021, with B. Hofer) and Intentional Conceptual Change (2003, ed. with P.R. Pintrich), alongside approximately 90 peer-reviewed articles and 24 book chapters. Highly cited publications include 'The challenges of defining and measuring student engagement in science' (2015) and 'Addressing challenges to public understanding of science' (2014). With over 21,000 citations, her scholarship has shaped research on STEM learning, science denial, and conceptual change.

Professional Email: gsinatra@usc.edu