M. Elizabeth Barnes is Associate Professor of Biology Education at Middle Tennessee State University in the United States. Her work explores perceptions of evolution, particularly how individuals view and teach about the relationship between religious ideas and evolution.

Barnes focuses on how to help religious students become more comfortable learning evolution in the context of undergraduate biology classrooms by using culturally competent teaching strategies. She publishes regularly in biology education journals and presents her work at a multitude of conferences, including the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the Society for the Advancement of Biology Education Research (SABER), and INSBS. She received her Ph.D. in Biology Education at Arizona State University as a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow, and in 2023, she was awarded the National Science Foundation’s early CAREER award. Her work on evolution education includes both qualitative and quantitative research approaches and her work has been featured in the media including Scientific American, The Smithsonian, and on theBBC.