2008 Invitational Conference on
K-12 Outreach from University Science Departments

About Our Invited Speakers

Professor Carl A. Batt serves as co-founder of the Nanobiotechnology Center (NBTC), and director of the Cornell University/Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research Partnership. He received his Ph.D. from Rutgers University in Food Science and has published 200 peer-reviewed articles, book chapters and reviews.

Professor Batt has made important and tangible contributions toward educating both youth and teachers in Upstate New York in many areas of science. He has been involved in numerous K-12 science, technology, engineering and math outreach (STEM) activities, and as co-director of the Nanobiotechnology Center serves as the faculty mentor for all PSC educational programs, which span from pre-K through graduate education. Professor Batt, in collaboration with community partners, has established science clubs in three rural middle schools that are focused on getting young women excited about science, and also established two other "mixed gender" clubs that involve underrepresented minorities. During the summer, he is involved in running various research programs available for high school students, undergraduates and K-12 science teachers.

Dr. Batt has led collaborations of scientists and museum professionals in producing two interactive museum exhibitions It’s A Nano World and Too Small To See that introduce children and their families to the wonders of the nano world that's too small to see with just your eyes. Recently over 1.5 million visitors toured It’s A Nano World in a featured showing at Epcot/Walt Disney World in Florida.

 

Dr. Diandra L. Leslie-Pelecky, Associate Professor of Physics at the University of Nebraska, leads research that focuses on understanding the role of randomness and disorder in nanostructured magnetic material. But she has also led many activities in physics education and, recently, in bringing science to the public.

She has been involved in:

• Project Fulcrum, an NSF-funded GK-12 program that works with elementary and middle-school math and science teachers.
• The Workshop for New Physics and Astronomy Faculty, held at the American Center for Physics each fall and sponsored by AAPT/APS & AAS, which helps new faculty learn about balancing their research, teaching and outreach responsibilities.
• The 2007 University of Nebraska Conference on Communicating Science, Math and Engineering to Broader Audiences for researchers and communicators.
• The development of the Broader Impacts Toolbox, a work-in-progress resource to help researchers understand how to meet the requirements for NSF funding. The toolbox contains information on getting started, examples of good projects and hints for what not to do.
• Building SPEED (Science Partnerships: Education, Engagement and Diversity) is a forthcoming initiative to provide middle and high-school teachers with opportunities to research, and learn how to engage their students in science and math study via links to motorsports.

She is also the author of the recently published book “The Physics of NASCAR,” in which she reveals “how and why drivers trust the engineering and science their teams literally build around them not only to get them across the finish line in first place, but also to keep them alive. Based on the author’s extensive access to race shops, pit crews, crew chiefs and mechanics, this book traces the life cycle of a race car from behind the scenes at top race shops to the track.”

 

Dr. Marllin Simon, Carr Professor of Physics at Auburn University, has in a long career, worked in almost every possible university-based science education outreach program. He has led numerous teacher-education programs, externally funded education projects, Science Olympiads, and summer teacher institutes and coordinated projects for the Alabama Science in Motion program. He has served as a consultant for several state Departments of Education and was the President of the Alabama Science Teachers Association. He has published laboratory manuals and developed new curricular pieces. He has often been an invited speaker at meetings of the American Physical Society and the American Association of Physics Teachers.

He was awarded the 1992 George B. Pegram Medal for Excellence in Physics Education by the Southeastern Section of the American Physical Society, and the Alabama Science Teachers "Friend Of Science Award".

 

Dr. Virginia L. Shepherd, Professor of Pathology and Medicine and Director of Science Education Outreach for Vanderbilt University Medical Center, received the American Society of Cell Biology’s Bruce Alberts Award for Distinguished Contributions to Science Education.

The Center for Science Outreach was established in 2002 in order to promote and develop a strong relationship between the scientific and educational communities.

Current goals center around three main themes: creating in-classroom partnerships between scientists and teachers; developing virtual partnerships through the use of videoconferencing technology; and hosting in-residence teacher partners at VUMC. Outreach programs include bringing 7th through 12th grade students to the Vanderbilt campus for summer science camps and annual career days, helping parents get involved in their kids' schoolwork with science nights, and connecting scientists to K-12 classrooms through videoconferencing. In addition, the Center sponsors a variety of summer workshops focusing on inquiry-based instruction, science content, leadership, and technology.

Programs currently under development include the establishment of new degree programs for in-service teachers in order to enhance their science content background, and expansion and enhancement of our in-classroom and virtual partnerships.

 

Dr. William McCallum is a University Distinguished Professor of Mathematics and Director of the Institute for Mathematics and Education at the University of Arizona. In 1989 he joined the Harvard calculus consortium, and is the lead author of the consortium's multivariable calculus and college algebra texts. In 2005 he received the Director's Award for Distinguished Teaching Scholars from the National Science Foundation. His professional interests include arithmetical algebraic geometry and mathematics education. He has received grants and written articles, essays, and books in both areas.

The Institute for Mathematics and Education hosts numerous programs that link mathematicians to K-12. One example is the workshop Mathematicians in Mathematics Education which addresses the increasing demand for mathematicians who can constructively contribute to work in mathematics education, such as standards development, validation of tests, curriculum design, textbook review, and the preparation and professional development of teachers. This workshop orients mathematicians on key issues: the core mathematics of K–12, the mathematical knowledge of teachers, the nature of the educational system, the profusion of standards documents, the variety of curricula, and mathematics education research.