Understanding Science -- a web project of the UC Museum of Paleontology

Project Advisory Board

Science expertise

Anne Egger is the Undergraduate Program Coordinator for the Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences at Stanford University, where she teaches several classes and has developed the undergraduate research program. For the past six years, she has been a director of the NSF-funded Visionlearning project, an online resource for teaching science, and has provided professional development for in-service teachers through the Partnership for Student Success in Science (PS3), an NSF-funded initiative to improve science education in Bay Area schools.

Jack G. Hehn has taught and worked with students in elementary school through graduate school, and has extensive experience teaching physical science to pre-service teachers. He was active in the effort to create national science standards and in 1999, joined the American Institute of Physics (AIP) as the Director of Education. He is a Co-PI on the Physics Teachers Education Coalition (PhysTEC), a partnership of the American Physical Society, American Association of Physics Teachers, and AIP, and works in support of Earth systems education efforts.

Natalie Kuldell did her doctoral and post-doctoral work at Harvard Medical School and currently teaches in the Biological Engineering Division at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She develops discovery-based curricula drawn from the current literature to engage undergraduate students in structured, reasonably authentic laboratory experiences. She has also written educational materials to improve scientific communication as it occurs across disciplinary boundaries and as it's taught in undergraduate subjects. Her research examines gene expression in eukaryotic cells, focusing most recently on synthetic biology and redesign of the yeast mitochondria.

Ian D. MacGregor received his PhD from Princeton University and taught as a professor at the University of California at Davis, before joining the National Science Foundation where he served as Division Director of the Earth Science Division. In the last six years, he has worked at the National Science Resources Center as a science advisor for two major curricula projects. He has also been involved in the GLOBE project and is currently the Executive Director of the National Association of Geology Teachers.

Richard T. O'Grady holds degrees in zoology from McGill University and the University of British Columbia (PhD). In 1997, following nearly a decade in scientific publishing, he was named Executive Director of the American Institute of Biological Sciences, a nonprofit scientific organization with programmatic activities in research, education, public policy, publications, meetings, and peer review services to government agencies and other grantmaking organizations.

W. Geoffrey Owen is a professor and former chair of the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology and is currently serving as the Dean of Biological Sciences at UC Berkeley. This division includes about 112 full-time faculty in the Departments of Integrative Biology and Molecular and Cell Biology. Owens is actively involved in the formation of several research centers in key areas of biology such as the biology of cancer, neglected (or "orphan") diseases and biodiversity.

Mark Richards is a professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences and is currently serving as the Dean of Physical Sciences at UC Berkeley. This division includes about 160 full-time faculty in the Departments of Astronomy, Earth & Planetary Sciences, Mathematics, Physics and Statistics. Richards is actively engaged in research that includes history and dynamics of global plate motions; igneous processes in the mantle and deep crust; regional crustal deformation and earthquake hazards.

Walter S. Snyder is a professor at Boise State University, where he coordinates the degree programs in Earth Science Education. He also collaborates on a geoinformatics project (PaleoStrat) to find ways to share science research data with multiple audiences. Snyder was Section Head in the Earth Sciences Division at NSF from 2002-2005, is currently Chair of the Geological Society of America's (GSA) Geology and Public Policy Committee, and is actively involved in establishing GSA's new National Leadership Initiative.

Michael Weisberg received his PhD from Stanford University and is currently Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania. His research is in philosophy of science, focusing on foundational issues in biology and chemistry, as well as methodological issues in theory construction. In addition to his research, Weisberg chairs the Evolution Project at Penn Museum, a public outreach and education program about evolutionary theory.

Lisa D. White is a Professor of Geology and Associate Dean of Graduate Studies at San Francisco State University. She has extensive experience with outreach programs for urban youth and is active in efforts to increase diversity in the geosciences. She is the PI of SF-ROCKS, a program to increase representation of students traditionally underrepresented in the geosciences by engaging them in research projects and training.

Lori Zaikowski is Chemistry Department Chair at Dowling College where she has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in chemistry, environmental science, marine science, and interdisciplinary natural sciences since 1992. Lori mentors and instructs pre-service teachers and is PI for the NSF Robert Noyce Scholarship Program at Dowling. Prior to her current appointment, she taught grades 5 to 12 math and science and developed curricular materials for NSF institutes for secondary school teachers on Ethics and Values in the Science Classroom.


Teacher education and cognition

Sam Donovan is an assistant professor of science education in the School of Education and a research scientist in the Learning Research and Development Center at the University of Pittsburgh. His research involves understanding the ways that features of scientific practices can be reflected in curricula to support student understanding of the nature of science and science content. He is also an assistant director of the BioQUEST Curriculum Consortium.

Sharon Janulaw** was the Director of the North Bay Science Project, a California Science Project site housed at Sonoma State University. She is a Science Education Specialist with the Sonoma County Office of Education, teaches the science methods course in the multi-subject teaching credential program at Sonoma State University and has extensive teaching experience in grades K-5. She is the newly elected District XVI Director of NSTA.

Norman Lederman is Chair and Professor of Mathematics and Science Education at Illinois Institute of Technology. Lederman taught biology and chemistry in New York and Illinois for 10 years before beginning a 20+ year career as a science educator. Lederman is internationally known for his research on students' and teachers' conceptions of nature of science and scientific inquiry. He is Past President of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST) and the Association for the Education of Teachers in Science (AETS).

Tania Lombrozo will receive her PhD from Harvard University in June 2006 and will join UC Berkeley’s Psychology Department as an assistant professor. Her research uses the methods of cognitive psychology to investigate conceptual representation, intuitive theories, explanation, and moral reasoning. Her published work has ties to philosophy of science, science education, and attitudes towards scientific claims.

Ed Robeck taught middle school science and has worked in curriculum development and science teacher preparation at all levels, including developing science activities accompany the Reading Rainbow television series. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia where he was a research assistant for the Third International Math and Science Study (TIMSS). He was most recently an Associate Professor and Education Department Chair at Salisbury University in Maryland, and is currently on leave from SU to work for the American Geological Institute designing online professional development courses for teachers.

** serves also on the Project Advisory Board


See members of the Teacher Advisory Board.