Unlike many of her classmates in the University of Chicago’s Ph.D. program in Neurobiology, Dr. Catherine Lowry Franssen ’99 didn’t major in neuroscience in college. Instead, the Psychology and Elementary Education double-major collaborated with her mentor, former R-MC Psychology professor Dr. Kelly Lambert, to fashion a neuroscience curriculum through elective courses that aligned with her career goals.
“I’m really happy I chose the route I did,” Franssen said. “My liberal arts background gave me a broader training that allowed me to explore the questions I was interested in, which kept me invested in the work I was doing.”
Franssen paused from teaching psychology at Longwood University last year to become the Science Museum of Virginia’s first scientist in residence. That made her the first neuroscientist on staff at the organization, as well as the museum’s first full-time female scientist. She decided this past fall to stay on full time as the Science Museum’s life scientist, a position that allows her to “cultivate curiosity” through web content, innovative exhibit design, and educational programming.
“We were thrilled to have someone on staff with Catherine’s experience in the classroom,” Jennifer Guild, the Science Museum’s Manager of Communications and Curiosity, said. “The fact that she’s so broadly trained, so curious about the world, and so interesting to talk to makes her the perfect person to speak about the interconnectedness of life science and our everyday lives.”
Over the years Franssen has given numerous TV and radio interviews and written for a wide range of national publications, including Scientific American, CNN, Salon, and The Huffington Post. Her interests range from the psychology of superstition to Netflix addiction to why humans are hardwired to love pumpkin spice. No matter the topic, Franssen is well-regarded for making the underlying scientific concepts approachable, infusing her teachings with humor and pop culture references without skimping on research. That talent squares perfectly with her credo that “anyone can neuroscience” (a cheeky reference to Disney/Pixar’s Ratatouille, which asserts that “anyone can cook”).
“During my teaching career, I had students from all different backgrounds, many of whom were first-generation students or didn’t have specialized training in the sciences,” Franssen said. “Those experiences helped me think about how to hook people through their innate interest in the nature of our lives, to make stronger connections between the classroom and the real world.”
Franssen said she owes much of her teaching style to her father, Emeritus Professor of Business Dr. George Lowry, with whom she co-taught an interdisciplinary neuroeconomics course at R-MC in 2011 and at whose office computer she remembers pulling all-nighters as a Yellow Jacket.
“It’s a rare opportunity to teach alongside a parent,” Franssen said. “But it’s just as rare to shadow an experienced professor managing the classroom, promoting student-led discussion, and facilitating inquisitiveness.”
At R-MC, Franssen flourished in the close-knit, cross-discipline learning environment unique to a liberal arts college. She became a research assistant in Lambert’s lab and landed a Schapiro Undergraduate Research Fellowship, resulting in her co-authoring an article in Nature magazine, the world’s leading multidisciplinary science journal. She was also an active participant in the College’s theatre and radio programs, which she credits for strengthening her presentation skills, and had taken enough classes to nearly minor in three different subjects. Today, she’s surrounded by colleagues from different backgrounds in the sciences, arts, marketing, and fundraising, and every day she’s encouraged to follow her interests wherever they lead her.
“Our common thread is that we’re curious about the world around us,” she said. Franssen’s latest project involves spearheading the Science Museum’s first paid internship program. She’s also pitching in with the development of the Northern Virginia Science Center, a Science Museum satellite location situated in the Dulles Technology Corridor. One of the planned galleries is dedicated to the human experience and will feature never-before-seen exhibits to be prototyped at the Science Museum’s Richmond headquarters. When she’s searching for inspiration, she simply takes a stroll around the office building.
It’s really important for me to walk around the museum every day and see people interact with the exhibits,” Franssen said. “These people are choosing to spend their leisure time in an educational environment playing with science. As a scientist and educator, that feels so right to me.”
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