Alka Shanahan

Dr. Shanahan earned her B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees from Garhwal University, India, completing her Organic Chemistry Ph.D. work at the Indian Institute of Petroleum. Afterwards, she completed two years of postdoctoral work at the USDA National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research in Peoria, Illinois, during which time she met her husband. Upon her return to India, she served as a Pool Officer at the National Institute of Nutrition and then at the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. After moving to the United States, she worked as Director of Research at International Lubricants in Seattle, Washington, before taking several years to raise and homeschool her five children. Beginning in the Fall of 2015, Dr. Shanahan taught at Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, and online for Mother of Divine Grace School. She has served as an Advanced Placement Reader for Educational Testing Services since 2017. After joining Chelsea Academy in the Fall of 2019, she became an adjunct professor of chemistry at Christendom College in 2022. She loves teaching science at all levels!