Carolina Londono Michel

  • Assistant Professor
  • Earth Sciences
  • Phone: 401.874.2903
  • Email: carolina.michel@uri.edu
  • Office Location: 337 Woodward Hall

Biography

My work brings together People, Land, Community, and  Earth Systems Science to form the PLaCES Research Lab. My research revolves around Earth epistemology and geocognition – the ways people know, relate, and behave towards the planet. I am interested in how experts communicate and how different approaches to transferring knowledge can influence how learners – from young students to the general public – act towards the Earth. This work occurs in formal classroom settings and in informal learning spaces and encompasses multiple research lines, including:

  • STEM and Geoscience Education Research
  • Place and Land-based Education 
  • Community-engagement in Geosciences

Selected Projects

  • Bridging Indigenous and Western Science to Build New, Placed-Based Approaches to Informal STEM Learning. This project explores how Indigenous and Western knowledge systems can come together to support meaningful, community-driven, land-based science learning and a stronger sense of belonging in STEM. NSF-Advancing Informal Science Learning, Award # 2415369
  • Drawing-to-Assess: Reliability and Validity of Drawing Analysis. This project recognizes the unique place visualizations have in science, and the fundamental role visual communication of ideas plays in scientists’ ability to communicate complex ideas. The primary goal of this project is to establish validity and reliability of drawing analysis as a means for assessing student learning. The project plans to provide a foundation for drawings to be an effective alternative measure to more traditional scale approaches for assessing student outcomes. https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/show-award/?AWD_ID=2611861

Education

  • Postdoctoral Fellow, 2023-2026, Participatory and Community-engaged Research in STEM Education. Michigan State University 
  • Ph.D., 2016, Geology, Arizona State University, Tempe AZ
  • B.S., 2007, Geology, Universidad Nacional de Colombia
  • BEng., 2005, Petroleum Engineering, Universidad de America

Selected Publications

Libarkin, J. C., Michel, C., & Stanley, K. B. (2026). Drawings as measures of environmental connectedness. Environmental Education Research, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2026.2708244

Michel, C., Libarkin, J., Huitzilopochtli, S., Kleiner, C., Huss, S., Velasco, K., Yan, L., Beckett, L., Flick, K., Scalice, D., Saavedra, A. (2025). Researcher and Community Roles in Geoscience Education Research. Earth Science, Systems and Society. Doi 10.1144/esss2025-003

Londono1, S. C., Semken, S., Brandt, B., Garzon, N. C., Makuritofe, V. (2023). Understanding the geology of the Colombian Amazon through Indigenous eyes. In P.W.U. Chinn & S. Nelson-Barber (Eds.), Indigenous STEM Education: Perspectives from the Pacific Islands, The Americas, and Asia, (Vol. 1, 223-238). Springer, Cham. doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-30451-4_12

Londono, S. C., Hartnett, H., & Williams, L. (2017). Antibacterial activity of aluminum in clay from the Colombian Amazon. Environmental Science and Technology, 51(4), 2401–2408. doi:10.1021/acs.est.6b04670.

Buck, B., Londono, S. C., McLaurin, B., Metcalf, R., Mouri, H., Selinus, O., Shelembe, R. (2016). The emerging field of medical geology in brief: some examples. Environmental Earth Sciences, 75(6), 1-13. https://www.unlv.edu/sites/default/files/page_files/24/Buck%20et%20al.%2C%202016.pdf

Londono, S. C., Garzon, N. C., Brandt, E., Semken, S., Makuritofe, V. (2016). Ethnogeology in Amazonia: Surface water systems in the Colombian Amazon, from perspectives of Uitoto traditional knowledge and mainstream hydrology. In G. Wessel & J. Greenberg (Eds.), Geoscience for the public good and global development: Toward a sustainable future, (Special paper 520, pp 221-232). The Geological Society of America.

Londono, S. C., Williams, L. B. (2015). Unraveling the antibacterial mode of action of a clay from the Colombian Amazon. Journal of Environmental Geochemistry and Health, 38(2), 363-379. doi:10.1007/s10653-015-9723-y

Stallard, R. F, Londono, S. C. (2016). Geology, hydrology, and soils.  In N. Pitman, A. Bravo, S. Claramunt, C. Vriesendorp, D. Alvira Reyes, A Ravikumar, del A. Campo, D. F. Stotz, T. Wachter, S. Helipern, B. Rodriguez Grandez, A. R. Sánz Rodríguez, R. C. Smith (Eds.), Perú: Medio Putumayo–Algodón: Rapid biological and social inventories (No 28, pp. 79-92). The Field Museum, Chicago. https://www.rapidinventories.fieldmuseum.org/ri-28

Figueiredo, B. R., Litter, M. I., Silva, C., Mañay, N., Londono, S. C., … Licht, O. (2010). Medical geology studies in South America. In O. Selinus, B. Finkelman, & J. Centeno (Eds.), Medical Geology. A regional Synthesis (pp. 79-107). Springer. All authors contributed equally

Open Educational Resources

Michel, C. Scott, C., Stevens, S., Flick, K., Zoet, L. (2025). Lab exercise: Using lidar to track Lake Michigan bluff retreat and inform local communities. Open Topography. https://opentopography.org/learn/WI_bluff_lidar;https://serc.carleton.edu/dev/NAGTWorkshops/geodesy/activities/309243.html

Estrada, C., Michel, C., Wilson, M., Simpson, J., Santoro, M. & Megivern, K. (2021). Dynamic planet: Exploring geological Disasters and Environmental Change. Maricopa Open Digital Press. https://open.maricopa.edu/hazards/

Teaching

At URI, I teach:

  • 102 Sustainability – every semester
  • Place and Land Based Education – Graduate course