Ambassadors, Scholars, Diplomats.xls Full List

Congratulate SENCER Ambassadors, Scholars, and Diplomats for Remarkable Achievements this year! 

SENCER’s continued impact on STEM education depends on the dissemination and professional development efforts of our Ambassador’s, Scholars, and Diplomats.  In just this year, members of these groups have done remarkable work, organizing events, publishing their work, presenting at STEM education meetings—all critical amplification of the NCSCE’s efforts to forge collaborations, fund projects, and embed SENCER ideals into the wider constellation of STEM reform projects.  Here is just a brief report, and there probably much more!  Please keep the national office in the loop about your work in the coming year and feel free to check in with questions.

SENCER Ambassadors organized THREE professional development workshops this year!

CONNECTING TO YOUR COMMUNITY THROUGH THE CLASSROOM: A SENCER WORKSHOP

April 28, 2023. Presented by Mid-West SENCER Ambassadors, Heather Pelzel (UWisc.-Whitewater), Robert Seiser, (Roosevelt U.), Rachel Bergstrom (Beloit College), Drew Sieg (Truman State U.),  and Virginia McHugh Kurtz (Harper College)

Virginia (Ginger) also presented a poster on her “Cannabis and Society” course at this year’s Gordon Conference that proudly displayed the SENCER logo!

DEVELOPING YOUR TEACHING PORTFOLIO

October 17th and 22nd, 2022. Presented by Ambassador (and SENCER Founder) Monica Devanas, Ph.D., Director of Teaching Evaluation and Faculty Development at the Office of Teaching Evaluation and Assessment Research (OTEAR) at Rutgers University. Chris Drue, PhD, Associate Director of Teaching Evaluation and Faculty Development at OTEAR co-presented.  

BROADENING PARTICIPATION IN UNDERGRADUATE CLIMATE EDUCATION

Ambassador Karl Haushalter at Harvey Mudd College has organized this hybrid SENCER regional meeting, which which was held in September.   Check out the event page.

Ambassador Gordon Uno of U. Oklahoma is collaborating with Jim Collins of Arizona State on a new iteration of “The Liberal Art of Science” (AAAS, 1990) that cites SENCER principles as a key element in its framing. Gordon recently presented this model at the 2023 Gordon Conference on Biology Education Research. Essay’s related to this initiative are hosted at the NCSCE website, and include contributions from SENCER Scholar Bryan Dewsbury and Director of Partnerships Jay Labov.

Ambassadors Kathy Brown (Rider), Missy Holzer (Great Minds Science) and Jessica Monaghan (Princeton U.) have an article forthcoming in the National Science Teacher’s Association journal Connected Science Learning.  The article documents the outcomes of their SENCER-ISE work, which was funded through a grant from The Institute of Museum and Library Services: Partnership Champions: SENCER-ISE and Professional Development Through Mentoring to Enhance Learning Environments. Congratulations to all 

Ambassadors Trace Jordan and Matt Fisher continue their dedicated work on Science Education and Civic Engagement: An International Journal. Congratulations to them on the Winter 2023 issue, which includes an article co-authored by SENCER Ambassador Drew Seig, and another on Climate Justice Education by Ambassadors Heather Price (North Seattle College) and Sonya Doucette (Belleville College).

The Indefatigable Pat Marsteller has been hard at work, partnering with Price and Doucette in organizing two presentations on their statewide professional development efforts on Climate Justice for the 2023 BIOME Institute this July and the AAAS Meeting in Washington in February 2024. Pat keeps the SENCER national office in the loop about projects and initiatives related to social justice education and biology education reform!

Ambassador Nasrin Mirsaleh-Kohan at Texas Woman’s University continues to advance that institution’s longstanding collaboration with SENCER through a pending NSF proposal on Green Chemistry that will include NCSCE as a collaborator on dissemination and faculty development.  SENCER Ambassadors Cathy Middlecamp and Matt Fisher will serve advisory roles on this proposal.

Ambassador Ulla Hasager of UH-Manoa has been hard at work organizing a special issue for SECEIJ on the great work that the UH system is doing to connect indigenous knowledge and Western science, an outgrowth of NCSCE’s Keck funded project.

SENCER Diplomat Sara Tolbert (University of Canterbury, New Zealand) organized a SENCER panel at the Society for the Social Studies of Science in Cholula, Mexico December 7-10, our first in this venue.  The panel included Eliza Reilly, Davida Smyth, Alexandra Schindel (U. Buffalo) and SENCER Scholar Bryan Dewsbury.  Sara continues the effort to “internationalize” our work with a panel on Democracy and STEM Education from an international perspective at the SENCER Summer Institute with Dr. Geraldine Mooney Simmie, Associate Professor in the School of Education at the University of Limerick and Director of EPI-STEM The National Centre for STEM Education.  here is the RECORDING

NCSCE’s international efforts are expanding thanks to the work in Uruguay of Diplomat Monica Trujillo who has partnered with NCSCE’s Associate Director Davida Smyth on a privately funded initiative Wastewater-Based Epidemiology, Equity and Justice, which is administered through NCSCE. More information on this project, its expansion to other regions in the global south, the project leads, and related activities will be presented at SSI 2023.

SENCER Scholar Bhawani Venkataraman and Deputy Director Davida Smyth are co-organizing a panel on The Wickedest Problem: The Global Civic Challenge of Water for the Summer Institute. Bhawani’s new book The Paradox of Water, explores the intersection of the scientific, social, and policy implications around access to safe drinking water. 

 A profound thanks to all mentioned here. Those who are not mentioned are encouraged to get in touch with the national office and let us know about your work!