Usha is the Founding Director of the Office of Teaching and Learning at St. Joseph’s University, helping to coordinate and oversee the University’s pedagogical initiatives. Usha holds an undergraduate degree in geology from St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai, India, and a Ph.D. in environmental geochemistry from the University of Rochester. After completing an Environmental Research Council post-doctoral fellowship at Northwestern University, Dr. Rao joined the department of chemistry at St. Joseph’s University in 2000, where she is currently an Associate Professor of environmental chemistry. Usha’s academic interests lie in the mitigation of environmental pollutants, transformative teaching practices, STEM teaching, and the role of women and minorities in STEM and the academy. She is currently editing a research volume on environmental sustainability for CRC Press, the leading publisher of research materials in chemistry, physics, and mathematics.