Rate My Professor Seth Bush

Dr. Seth Bush is a Professor in the Chemistry and Biochemistry Department at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly), specializing in chemical education and physical chemistry. He also serves as Chair of the Liberal Studies Department. Bush earned a B.S. in Chemistry from Reed College and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley. Joining the Cal Poly faculty in 2005, he has focused on K-16 science education, teaching general chemistry, and leading impactful programs such as the Learn By Doing Lab, which he has directed since 2008. This initiative has involved approximately 400 Cal Poly undergraduates teaching hands-on science to more than 10,000 K-6 students. He serves as chemistry single-subject credential advisor, co-principal investigator for the NSF Noyce Scholars program recruiting and supporting future science teachers, and co-director of the Central Coast Science Project providing professional development to K-12 teachers.

Bush's research interests include studying the emergence of Science Faculty with Education Specialties (SFES), developing and evaluating teacher professional development programs, improving teacher recruitment and training, and building inquiry-based science toys, games, and manipulatives. He contributed to the first large-scale national study on U.S. science faculty with education specialties. Key publications include "Widespread distribution and unexpected variation among science faculty with education specialties (SFES) across the United States" (2013), "Fostering Change from Within: Influencing Teaching Practices of Departmental Colleagues by Science Faculty with Education Specialties" (2016), "Disciplinary Bias, Money Matters, and Persistence: Deans’ Perspectives on Science Faculty with Education Specialties (SFES)" (2020), and "Differentiation, adaptation, and perseverance: Maturing conceptualizations of education-focused science faculty in the United States" (2024). For his exceptional teaching, he received the Cal Poly Distinguished Teaching Award in 2012-2013.