Center for Science and Technology in Education (CSTE)

Ryen Burris

• Entered the program in 2021
• Education: B.A. in Mathematics and Physics, Reed College, 2021
• Research Interests: Equity, LGBTQ+ issues, and department cultures in undergraduate physics; impact of faculty epistemologies on department equity

Emily Freeland

• Entered the program in 2021
• B.S. in Marine Science, Eckerd College, 2013; M.A. in Curriculum and Instruction - Science Education, Univerisity of Maryland, 2017

Kristina Kramarczuk

• Entered the program in 2019
• Education: Bachelors Degree in Microbiology and Spanish, University of Wisconsin Madison, 2011; M.S. in Education and Social Change, University of Miami (Florida), 2018
• Professional Pursuits: Teaching (K-12 or higher ed), research for computing or tech-centered non-profit organizations
• Research Interests: broadening participation of all students in K-12 computer science education, justice-centered K-12 computing, intersectional computing identities, critical quantitative analysis

J. Elisabeth Mesiner

• Entered the program in 2017
• Education: M.S. in Science Education and B.S. in Social Science Education from the Florida State University
• Experience: Worked three years as a teacher at the Florida State University Lab-Research School (FSUS)  in sixth grade science
• Research Interests: Responsive teaching, Next Generation Science learning, and preparing science educators, both pre-service and in-service

Rebecca Vieyra

• Entered the program in 2018
• Education: M.A.S. in Science Education from the Illinois Institute of Technology; B.S. in Physics Education from Illinois State University
• Experience: Coordinator of the Inter-American Teacher Education Network of the Organization of American States. Previously, she was the K-12 Program Manager at the American Association of Physics Teachers, and, separately, co-founder with her husband of Vieyra Software, which provides free and low-cost apps to more than 1 million users worldwide. Previously, Rebecca was a high school physics and engineering teacher in Illinois public schools
• Research Interests: STEM Teacher Leadership, Physics Teacher Education, Computational Modeling in Physics, Teaching and Learning with Mobile Sensors

Natalie Harr Ylizarde

• Entered the program in 2015
• Education: M.A.T. in Biological Sciences from Miami University, Oxford; B.S. in Early Childhood Education, Kent State University
• Experience: Taught kindergarten and 1st grade for nine years at Crestwood Local Schools, Mantua, Ohio. Served six weeks on an NSF-funded polar research team in Palmer Station, Antarctica. Served two consecutive fellowships as an Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow at the National Science Foundation, Washington, DC
• Research Interests: STEM early learning, elementary science teacher professional development, and climate change education

Janet Bih Shufor

• Entered the program in 2018
• Education: Equivalent of Masters degree in Electrical Engineering/ Electronics
• Experience: High school electronics teacher in vocational school. Founder of STEM focused schools and maker spaces. Active startup community advocate and robotics coach for team Cameroon
• Research Interests: Computational Thinking/STEM

Lautaro Cabrera

• Entered the program in 2016
• Education: B.A. in Psychology with a minor in Studio Art from Ohio Wesleyan University
• Experience: Worked for two years as a teacher aide at a university-based preschool and for little under a year as a Research Assistant at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, OH
• Research Interests: Early childhood learning, specifically in conjunction with the development of early computational thinking skills and the role of technology in facilitating this learning

Merijke Coenraad

• Entered the program in 2017
• Education: M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction from Boston College; B.S. in Elementary Education and Spanish & Hispanic Studies from Creighton University
• Experience: Taught a variety of middle school courses including social studies, Spanish, and technology for 4 years at Saint Columbkille Partnership School in Brighton, Massachusetts
• Research Interests: Technology design, development, and implementation in K-12 education settings

Alexander Glass

• Entered the program in 2019 
• Education: M.A in English Language and Literature from George Mason University; B.A. in English Language and Literture from Florida International University.
• Experience: First-year Writing and Composition Instructor, Northern Virginia Community College
• Research Interests: Multiliteracies, digital rhetoric, and electronic literature

Kenna Hernly

• Entered the program in 2016
• Education: BA in Art History, MA in Contemporary Visual Art
• Research Interests: technology and social media to support art engagement in museums, technology and social media to support art education in schools, asset pedagogies in museum programming

Karmen Hice

• Entered the program in 2019
• Education: BSN, Bachelor of Science of Nursing, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center; MS, Master of Science, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center
• Experience: Experienced Nursing Instructor
• Research Interests: Nursing education

Heather Killen

• Entered program in 2017 
• Education: M.A. in Biology, Boston University; B.A. in Biology with minors in Chemistry and Asian Studies from Linfield College, McMinnville Oregon
• Experience: Resident faculty of biology, Mohave Community College, Arizona. Field ecologist, Colorado River Indian Tribes. Administrator, U.S. Antarctic Program, McMurdo Station, Antarctica
• Research Interests: Mixed methods research on engagement, equity and learning in informal educational spaces, including on-line spaces

Noel Kuriakos

• Entered the program in 2018
• Education: MBA in Strategy, Technology Marketing from the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business; MAT in Math Education from Emmanuel College, Boston, MA; BA in Economics and BS in Accountancy from the University of Illinois Urbana-Campaign

• Experience: Teaching fellow in Math & Science at Mother Caroline Academy, Boston, MA. Pre-service teacher in middle school math at Boston Public Schools. After school teacher at Paraclete in Boston, MA. Scratch Instructor at MIT, Gabrieli Labs Project at the Boston Collegiate Charter School. Instructor at Girls Who Code & Black Girls Code. Comp Sci Teacher at Dir. of Project Based Learning, Dir. of Curriculum Development in Maranyundo Girls School, Nyamata, Rwanda. Enterprise software product management

• Research Interests: Middle school girls' STEM education, gender-based STEM education through experiential-informal and game based learning,transnational advocacy for peace & gender equity through STEM, outcomes based management through learning analytics

Yuhan (Jimmy) Lin

• Entered the program in 2020
• Education: B.S. in Mathematics, University of Georgia, 2018; B.S. in Mathematics Education, University of Georgia, 2018; M.S. in Learning Sciences and Technologies, University of Pennsylvania, 2019
• Research Interests: transition between block-based and text-based programming, using physical computing as a means to support computer science programming education

Scott Moses

• Entered Program in 2017.
• Education: MA English from Boston College; MSc Global Politics from London School of Economics and Political Science; B.A. in English from Southern Methodist University.
• Experience: Currently a Senior Lecturer in the English Department at the University of Maryland, where I also serve as Blended and Online Learning Coordinator for the Professional Writing Program.
• Research Interests: Higher Ed faculty access to teaching and technology resources and training.

Cachanda Orellana

• Entered the program in 2016
• Education: MEd in Secondary Education, Howard University; BA in English Language and Literature, Howard University
• Experience: Experienced English Teacher
• Research Interests: Reading and technolgy

Alex Pugnali

• Entered the program in 2021
• Education: B.S. in Engineering Psychology, Tufts University
• Research Interests: computer science education, K-12 education, historically marginalized populations, intersectionality, culturally relevant pedagogy

Yue Xin

• Entered the program in 2021
• Education: B.S. in Biological Sciences, Fudan University; M.S. in Biotechnology, Georgetown University; M.S. in Learning Sciences & Technology, University of Pennsylvania
• Research Interests: helping teachers create inclusive and meaningful science learning experiences for all students with technologies such as education video games