Rachel Freed is a co-founder and the President of the Institute for Student Astronomical Research (InStAR), as well as a seminar instructor, with a mission to incorporate true scientific research into secondary and undergraduate education. She is a co-author on over 20 published papers with students and educators from around the United States. Rachel helps to coordinate international conferences around the use of telescopes in education and is currently working on a PhD in astronomy education. She is also a faculty lecturer in the School of Education at Sonoma State University. She has a B.S. degree in Biology from UC Davis and an M.S. in Neuroscience from Northwestern University, where she studied neural transmission using confocal microscopy and electrophysiology.

Rachel taught high school chemistry and astronomy for 10 years, and has conducted research on chemistry education, helping to design, build and evaluate an online formative assessment system for high school chemistry. She is involved in curriculum design and implementation and trains educators in the use of technology and remote telescopes for research. She has been an amateur astronomer for over 20 years and is involved in public outreach. Rachel is a public speaker with a focus on bringing telescopes to students around the globe as well as promoting changes in education that build on a student’s intrinsic motivations and interests.