Dr. Rodriguez is the director of UTeach Maker, a micro-credentialing program that helps preservice teachers bring innovative, project-based maker practices into their STEM classrooms or makerspace environments. She is a Professor of Practice and the Assistant Dean for Professional Track Faculty in The College of Natural Sciences at UT Austin. Shelly has worked as an instructor for the UTeach secondary STEM teacher program for 16 years. Before joining UTeach, Shelly taught science at Crockett High School in Austin ISD, earning several teaching awards and National Board Certification. She received the Outstanding Paper Award from the National Association for Research in Science Teaching in 2012.

Shelly’s areas of expertise include facilitating professional learning communities, mentoring, maker education, and inquiry-based learning. She has multiple peer-reviewed publications in these areas. Additionally, Dr. Rodriguez serves as the Internship Coordinator for the UTeach program and was a co-PI on the UTeach Noyce grant (NSF 1557155). In each of her roles, Dr. Rodriguez supports beginning and pre-service STEM teachers and works to develop partnerships between the community, school district, and The University of Texas.