Caitlin Light

About Caitlin Light

I am the Assistant Director of the First-year Research Immersion (FRI) Program at Binghamton University, an innovative STEM education initiative that provides students with an extended, course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE). In this role, I am fortunate to work at the intersection of my two core passions: microbial biofilm research and STEM education research and reform. I work closely with students across three semesters, guiding them to ask meaningful scientific questions, design experiments, analyze data, and contribute to ongoing research in microbial biofilms.I work at the forefront of change in higher education, focused on expanding access to authentic research experiences and breaking down traditional academic silos. My work centers on championing experiential learning, collaborative research models, and inclusive program design that supports student success at scale. Through strategic partnerships, innovative programming, and evidence-based approaches, I aim to help reshape undergraduate STEM education so that more students, especially those historically excluded, can thrive and contribute to knowledge creation. I am energized by a future in education where boundaries are blurred, connections are intentional, and possibilities are expanded.I bring a scientist’s mindset, an educator’s heart, and a reformer’s urgency to my work. Whether advancing microbial biofilm research or reimagining how students enter and persist in STEM, I am motivated by impact on knowledge, on institutions, and on people. I seek out complex problems, value interdisciplinary collaboration, and believe that inclusive, research-driven educational design is essential to the future of higher education.

Experience

1. Member, American Society of Microbiology\'s Undergraduate Education Committee

   Asm

   Jan 2023 — Present

Education

• Binghamton University

  Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Microbiology, Cell/Molecular Biology

  2012 — 2017

• Marywood University

  Bachelor's Degree, (BS) Cell/Cellular and Molecular Biology

  2008 — 2012

Skills

• Confocal Microscopy
• Next Generation Sequencing (Ion Torrent)
• Quantitative Rt-Pcr
• Clc Genomics Workbench
• Liquid Chromotography Mass Spectrometry (Lc-Ms-Ms)
• Microsoft Excel
• Molecular Cloning
• Research
• Two-Dimensional Polyacrylamide Gel Proteomics
• Caenorhabditis Elegans Infection Model
• Mammalian Cell Culture
• University Teaching
• Western Blotting
• Arabidopsis Thaliana Infection Model
• Microsoft Office