Andres Sebastian Bustamante, Ph.D.

Andres Bustamante Ph.D. is an Associate Professor at the University of California Irvine’s School of Education and the Faculty Director of the Orange County Educational Advancement Network (OCEAN), UC Irvine’s research practice partnership community. He leads the Social, iTerative, Engaged, and Meaningful (STEM) Learning Lab, in designing and implementing play-based early childhood STEM experiences in places and spaces that children and families spend time (e.g., classrooms, parks, school yards, grocery stores etc.). He designs these experiences in partnership with local children, families, and educators, so they build from and sustain community values, goals, culture, and knowledge, while also maintaining connections to developmental and education sciences. Andres is invested in research that has practical implications for school and life success for children and families from underserved communities. His work has been funded by the National Science Foundation, Advanced Education Research and Development Fund (AERDF), Heising Simons Foundation, and the American Educational Research Association (AERA). He was recognized by the Association for Psychological Science (APS) through their Rising Star Award for early career scholars. He is also committed to sharing and interpreting early childhood research with a broader audience through media outlets such as Brookings Institution, Psychology Today, & BOLD Blog.