Current & Past Projects
Below you will find some highlights of projects and clients.
As MISF’s STEM Program Manager, I oversee efforts to support STEM education in Minnesota’s independent schools. This includes: professional development for teachers, such as an annual STEM conference, in-person and virtual workshops, and online resources; grants for schools to launch new and improved STEM programs; and community partnerships that provide access to high-quality STEM programming from STEM education organizations.
I am currently working with the Minnesota office of Science from Scientists as a project consultant on a three-year project funded by the Cargill Foundation to build the organization’s capacity for teacher professional development and program evaluation.
In 2016, with funding from the National Science Foundation, NSTA launched Connected Science Learning–an online, open-access, and peer-reviewed journal featuring articles about highly effective programs and research that connect preK–12 STEM learning in schools and out-of-school settings. As the publication’s field editor, I am responsible for the journal’s content. This includes working with reviewers, authors, journal advisors, and NSTA’s editorial team; writing editorials; and making final decisions on themes for future issues.
From 2011 to 2018, I led the development, implementation, and evaluation of the Bakken Teacher Academy–a yearlong, four-credit graduate course for science teachers. From 2014-2018, I joined forces with science educator Betsy Stretch to create and deliver Science Learning from the Works of Scientists, which focused on how to teach students to deeply engage with complex informational text like scientists (for example, by asking questions, drawing evidence-based conclusions, analyzing, evaluating, synthesizing, and communicating with others). Today, Betsy and I lead spinoff workshops about reading in science for teachers from public, charter and independent schools.
To read more about the Teacher Academy, check out:
Partnering with Education
SciMathMN is a nonprofit organization that advocates for effective, engaging and rigorous science, technology, engineering and mathematics education opportunities for all Minnesota students, preparing them for citizenship, career, and college. I’ve had the privilege of working with SciMathMN to develop conference content and evaluation for its 2017 and 2019 annual conferences, which aim to bring together STEM education advocates from schools, nonprofits, businesses, professional organizations, and government.
From 2014-2016, I worked with STARBASE Minnesota as the project director for STEM Pathways, a collaboration between five STEM education providers and the Minneapolis Public Schools. More recently, I completed a short-term project to identify schools and other partners for a planned expansion of STARBASE Minnesota’s outreach programming.
To learn more about STEM Pathways, check out the following publications:
Partnering with Education
STEM Pathways: Building a STEM Learning Ecosystem
STEM Pathways evaluation reports from the Wilder Foundation