Speaker Bios

Robin Marcus
Program Director for STEM Education
North Carolina New Schools Project
Conference Presentation (pdf)
Robin Marcus brings 15 years of experience improving mathematics teaching and learning, particularly for students traditionally underserved in our educational system, to her work as Program Director for STEM Education at the North Carolina New Schools Project. She currently designs and coordinates support services for 12 STEM-focused high schools in North Carolina, supports improved mathematics and science teaching and learning across the NCNSP network, and is collaborating on a state vision and plan for STEM education.
For three years prior to joining the NC New Schools Project, Robin served as a mathematics instructional coach and teacher in an innovation high school in Baltimore, where she collaborated on a proposal for a new STEM school for girls, which opened this fall. She served on the development team for the second edition of Core-Plus Mathematics, an innovative high school math curriculum, and has provided professional development for teachers of mathematics in national, regional and local workshops. She has also worked as an evaluator and consultant for the Math Science Partnership of Greater Philadelphia. Robin holds a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Drake University and a master's degree in mathematics from Michigan State University. She is currently a doctoral candidate in curriculum and instruction, specializing in mathematics education, at the University of Maryland.

Jeff Corbett
Senior Vice President, Energy Delivery
Progress Energy Carolinas
Jeff Corbett is senior vice president, Energy Delivery, Progress Energy Carolinas and has been with Progress Energy since 1999. Before assuming his current position, Corbett was senior vice president, Energy Delivery, Progress Energy Florida. Before coming to Progress Energy, Corbett spent 17 years with Virginia Power, serving in a variety of engineering and leadership roles. He earned a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He is a registered professional engineer in Florida and North Carolina.

Active in the community and the power industry, Corbett serves on the boards of the North Carolina New Schools Project, Junior Achievement of Eastern North Carolina, the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce, Microcell Corporation, and the N. C. Symphony. Corbett also serves on the Power Delivery Committee of the Association of Edison Illuminating Companies and the Engineering and Operations Committee of the Southeastern Electric Exchange.

Jan DeWaters
Center for the Environment
Clarkson University
Conference Presentation (pdf)
Jan DeWaters, PE is a PhD candidate in Environmental Science and Engineering at Clarkson University, with a focus on energy education at the secondary school level. Her research has involved developing and applying quantitative and qualitative measures of energy literacy to learn more about the effectiveness of different approaches to teaching energy topics in the school environment. Jan has degrees in Chemical and Environmental Engineering from the Universities of New Hampshire and North Carolina (Chapel Hill School of Public Health), and completed graduate work and certification requirements in secondary science education at UNC-Chapel Hill. She has several years of professional experience as an environmental consulting engineer, and more recently served as the curriculum coordinator for Clarkson's Project-Based Learning GK-12 Partnership Program and directed the Partners in Engineering Program that provides mentoring and engineering activities for eighth grade girls. Jan lives with her husband and three sons in Potsdam, NY.

More about the Energy Literacy Assessment Project

Marc Siciliano
STEM Consultant
Teaching Institute for Excellence in STEM
Conference Presentation (pdf)
Marc has worked in science education for the past 12 years as a teacher, curriculum developer, coach, administrator and consultant. He started his teaching career in the Chicago Public Schools as a biology and environmental science teacher and became the director of a Math, Science and Technology Academy, a school-within-a-school serving 200 students. He has participated in two curriculum development projects funded by the National Science Foundation, one with the University of California, Berkeley and one with Northwestern University. He served as the science director for an all girls, grades 7-12 charter school in Chicago that focused on math, science and technology. Marc moved to New York City to become the science director for a campus of small high schools in the Bronx. He oversaw science curriculum and instruction for five schools and supported school leaders in developing and implementing professional development. This role later expanded to multiple campuses throughout the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens before Marc became the science coach for the Institute for Student Achievement (ISA), supporting science programs for approximately 50 schools in the ISA network throughout the country. He currently lives in Washington, DC and is a senior STEM consultant for the Teaching Institute for Excellence in STEM (TIES).

STEM Curriculum to Support Energy Literacy (pdf)

Carrie Bea Ziolkowski
Program Director
Wisconsin K-12 Energy Education Program
Conference Presentation (pdf)
Carrie started working for the Wisconsin K-12 Energy Education Program (KEEP) in February 2002. She manages the KEEP inservices for educators, manages KEEP's popular energy bookmark contest, coordinates KEEP Bright Idea Fundraiser, and is in the initial stages of the School to Home program in Brillion, WI.

Carrie graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point with a Bachelor’s of Science in Resource Management and minor in Environmental Communication. She earned a Master’s Degree from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point in Environmental Education in 2007. Her thesis was on the Development and Evaluation of a Biomass Energy Activity Guide for the Wisconsin K-12 Energy Education Program. Previous to working with KEEP she worked with the Golden Sands Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D) Council, Inc., a non-profit organization in central Wisconsin where she headed up Waupaca County's Environmental Education program for two years and has worked to promote other local non-profit organizations throughout central Wisconsin.

Development of the KEEP Activity Guide (pdf)

Activity Format (pdf)

KEEP Conceptual Framework (pdf)

Amy Constant
National Energy Education Development Project
Conference Presentation (pdf)
In 1980, the NEED Project began as a one-day celebration of energy education. A Joint Congressional Resolution established National Energy Education Day, and a Presidential Proclamation from President Jimmy Carter proclaimed the need for comprehensive energy education in our nation’s schools, a reduction of our dependence on fossil fuels, and increasing use of renewable energy technologies and energy efficiency. As NEED approaches its 30th Anniversary, the need to educate today’s students and teachers continues.

In some classrooms, that means teaching energy in art and drama, having students perform plays about coal mining and wind generated electricity. In others, it means learning more about the science of thermal and radiant energy. For some classrooms, it means learning about careers in energy today and tomorrow and emphasizing the skills today’s students will need to enter the energy workforce. NEED materials make a strong impact at all grade levels, K through 12. NEED includes engaging curriculum materials, exciting professional development, turnkey assessment and evaluation tools, and high quality teacher support. NEED’s long-term partnership with the U.S. Energy Information Administration provides the data and energy analysis used to update NEED curriculum materials on an annual basis. For more information about NEED visit www.need.org.

Amy Constant received her teaching degree from St. Bonaventure University and her Masters Degree from North Carolina State University. In 2004 she was Teacher of the Year for her school and became a National Board Certified Teacher. Ms Constant has been teaching for 15 years, in New York and North Carolina and has presented math and science workshops for Wake County Schools. She has led workshops at local, regional and national National Science Teacher Association conferences. She began using NEED materials in 1998, and has since presented workshops throughout the country for K-12 educators. Currently, Ms. Constant is teaching in Raleigh and assisting with curriculum development and teacher training for NEED.

The NEED Project Curriculum Guides and Program Resources

Karl Rectanus
Director
NC STEM Collaborative
Conference Presentation (pdf)
As NC STEM Community Collaborative Leader, Karl works with Federal, State & local government officials, business and industry leaders from world‐class companies, and community & education stakeholders, aligning North Carolina communities around innovative regional structures for the successful teaching and learning of Science, Technology, Engineering, & Math (STEM) disciplines for the economic vitality of North Carolina's citizens. Karl brings extensive public and private sector expertise from a diverse background, domestically and abroad, including as a teacher, administrator, technology executive, entrepreneur, and improv comic.

Karl attended University of North Carolina ‐ Chapel Hill as a NC Teaching Fellow and James M. Johnston Scholar, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in History/Secondary Education. Karl has also completed certificates from CalTech, UCLA Anderson Business School Extension, the Institute for International Mediation and Conflict Resolution (IIMCR), and is a 2009 Education Policy Fellow with the NC Public School Forum’s EPFP program. Karl is an active member and volunteer with the Triangle United Way, NC Technology Association, and White Memorial Presbyterian Church. In 2007, Karl was one of 40 emerging leaders from government, education, non‐profit, and private sectors from the US and Europe honored by the BMW Herbert Quandt Foundation.

Merrilee Harrigan
Vice President for Education
Alliance to Save Energy
Conference Presentation (pdf)
Merrilee Harrigan has directed the Alliances’ educational programs for 20 years. Her accomplishments include developing the Alliance’s successful Green Schools and Green Campus Programs and directing their implementation in seven states and India, Ghana and Serbia. She has designed and conducted research on innovative approaches to consumer energy education and designed field tests and pilot projects that have established the effectiveness of consumer energy education in reducing energy consumption, both in the short and long term. Ms Harrigan has been trained in Community Based Social Marketing and has used its principles in program design over the past 15 years. Prior to her tenure at the Alliance, Ms. Harrigan educated consumers and students through the Tennessee Valley Authority, Edison Electric Institute, and the University of Massachusetts Energy Office.

More about Alliance to Save Energy's Green Schools Program

Rob Holsten
Dean of Continuing Education and Sustainability
Wilson Community College
Conference Presentation (pdf)
Rob Holsten is the Dean of Continuing Education & Sustainability at Wilson Community College. Rob has worked with Wilson Community College as an instructor, department chair, and director, before becoming Dean in January of 2006. Current projects include the development of weatherization/energy efficiency, green building, and renewable energy technician programs. Rob is co-facilitator of the NC Community College Code Green Implementers group, facilitator of the Community College Networks Weatherization Task Force, and chair of the Wilson Community College Sustainability committee. Rob is committed to the principles of sustainability and the education and application of these principles.

More about energy literacy at Wilson Community College

Bryan Setser
Chief Executive Officer of North Carolina Virtual Public School
Conference Presentation (pdf)
Since his hire in December of 2007 by the State Board of North Carolina, Dr. Setser's innovative practices and transformative leadership style have tripled online enrollment to over 36,000 students, standards and test scores have risen dramatically in all subject areas, and Dr. Setser continues to provide a vision that is well on its way to establishing the North Carolina Virtual Public School and Learn and Earn Online as national models for e-learning as the North Carolina Virtual Public School is ranked 8th in the nation.

Dr. Setser serves on the North Carolina Distance Learning Association's Board, is a member of the Leadership for Innovation Committee of the North Carolina State Board of Education. Moreover, he sits on the E-learning Commission for North Carolina, and is a member of the National Advisory Boards for Wimba and NBC Learn. Dr. Setser also serves as a Southern Association of Colleges and Schools evaluator and works as a Baldrige National Examiner of world class organizations for the United States Department of Commerce.

A sought after state and national speaker, Dr. Setser regularly appears at state and national conferences, such as the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, the American Educational Research Association, the National Virtual School Symposium, Apple's Executive Academies, the Southern Regional Education Board, the State Virtual Leaders Alliance, and the Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference to name a few. Dr. Setser also blogs extensively and his work has been published in print on several occasions throughout his career.