Over the past 20 years, her research has focused on scientific meaning making, both in and out of the classroom, working especially with culturally and linguistically diverse students and families. She received her Ph.D. in Science Education from UC Berkeley and has been awarded several grants from the National Science Foundation. She was a science educator at the Exploratorium for five years. Ms. Ash’s current research centers on deeply analyzing episodes of scientific sense makings at museums, aquariums and other informal settings and working with museum educators to use scaffolding theories to enhance their teaching with diverse learners.