Dieuwertje (DJ) Kast

Dieuwertje (DJ) Kast

Director of STEM Education Programs
University of Southern California Joint Educational Project

Dieuwertje (DJ) Kast works on issues related to access and equity for thousands of low-income students of color in regard to educational technology implementation.

Her doctorate research was focused on preparing elementary school teachers how to integrate science and technology into their classrooms in a culturally relevant manner.

She works with approximately 3000 K-12 students annually, equating to 29,000 students impacted. She is primarily a curriculum writer, program developer and implementer of technology. She has written curriculum of educational technology including a middle school curriculum for the raspberry pi device, the ISS Above, a 3D printing curriculum for elementary school teachers, and a wearable technology course for middle school students. She has also hosted underwater robotics workshops with special needs students that received national acclaim.

A lot of her work exposes new and emerging technology to low-income K-12 students of color who may otherwise not have access to it. Much of the work is publicized in open-source articles, how-to guides, social media, conference sessions, professional development sessions and blogs so that other educators can take it and use it in their own formal and informal educational settings.

She has received the Forbes 30 under 30 in Science Award (2016), North American Association for Environmental Education “EE 30 under 30” Award (2016), The National Association of Geoscience Teachers – Far Western Section (NAGT-FWS) Outstanding Earth Science Teacher Award (2017), International STEM Education Association Mike Neden STEM Champion Award (2017).