Estefanía Pihen González

As Chief of Education and Learning, Dr. Pihen González is responsible for leading the Academy’s extensive education and engagement programs, including several museum spaces within the museum building. The Education Division is composed of three departments: teacher professional development and student education; youth programs and out-of-school time learning; and museum guest engagement and volunteer programs. Each year, the division reaches hundreds of thousands of students and youth, thousands of educators, and over one million museum guests—plus millions more online. Pihen González took the helm of the Academy’s Education division in July 2024.

Originally from Costa Rica, Pihen González has worked in sustainability education in both the United States and internationally for more than 15 years. Before coming to the Academy, she worked as the program director for Climate Action Pathways for Schools, where she directed the implementation of paid internship programs on climate action. Her previous experiences include founding and operating a K-12 green school, founding and directing an international consultancy group for transformative education, and working as the first research fellow at the Institute for the Built Environment.

Pihen González has led teams in curricular development and professional training for teachers to support the integration of action-oriented sustainability education within formal classroom instruction. She has also conducted advanced research both in the U.S. and overseas on teaching approaches and pedagogy for nature-based, experiential, and community-centered education. In addition, while studying at the University of California, Santa Barbara, she directed and developed after-school programs focused on climate action, social justice, and environmental sustainability. Pihen González began her career in marine science conservation as part of renowned projects for protecting coral reef and leatherback sea turtle populations in Costa Rica.

Pihen González received a bachelor’s degree in biology with a focus on marine conservation from the University of Costa Rica in 2004 followed by an MBA focused on social entrepreneurship from Colorado State University in 2017. She earned her second master’s degree with focus on education for sustainable development from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2021. She graduated from UC Santa Barbara in May 2024 with her PhD in education with an emphasis on education for sustainable development.