Dr. Julie Smart is a native of South Carolina and has served in the Upstate area for twenty years as a K-12 educator, college professor, non-profit leader, and community advocate for education. Dr. Smart holds a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from Clemson University and received a Bachelor of Science from Furman University and a Master of Education from Converse College. She began her career in education as a public-school teacher before moving to higher education to begin her work as a teacher educator and research methodologist. At Presbyterian College, Dr. Smart served as Assistant Professor and Program Coordinator for Elementary Education and held the position of Accreditation and Assessment Director. Dr. Smart then returned to Clemson University, where she specialized in educational research as an instructional designer, professor, and research consultant in the Graduate School and Teacher Residency program. Dr. Smart currently serves as Director of the Doctor of Education (Ed.D) program and Assistant Professor of Graduate Studies at Anderson University. She is also an active scholar in her field and publishes her research regularly in international and national educational research journals, presents research at annual research conferences, and has authored a book for science educators. Dr. Smart’s primary areas of research include inquiry-based instruction in STEM, instrument development, observational measures of teaching effectiveness, and factors affecting teacher motivation for online teaching and learning.