Director of the Center for Innovative Teaching, Research, and Learning (CITRAL)
Dr. Lisa Berry serves as the Director of the Center for Innovative Teaching, Research, and Learning (CITRAL) at UC Santa Barbara, where she has championed faculty and TA teaching excellence for nearly two decades. Her recent leadership initiatives include launching UCSB’s AI Community of Practice, establishing grant programs to support faculty teaching innovations, co-leading the development of systemwide UC Teaching Professional Development modules, and spearheading the campus-wide transition to the Explorance Blue course evaluation platform.
Dr. Berry is an advocate for evidence-based teaching who focuses on fostering academic rigor and student curiosity through authentic assessment, collaboration, and innovative teaching technologies. She represents UCSB across local and systemwide committees, serving on the Teaching Professors’ Network advisory board, the UC Online Advisory Council, the UCOP AI Council, the Educational Technology Leadership Committee, and as chair of the Centers for Teaching and Learning Assessment working group. Dr. Berry has a unique, interdisciplinary perspective, with a BS in Mechanical Engineering and PhD from the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, where her research focused on teaching and learning quantitative thinking in collaborative, interdisciplinary environments.