PLI #3

Jody Bintz

Jody Bintz serves as BSCS Associate Director for Strategic Partnerships and Professional Learning and as co-director of the NEXUS Academy for Science Curriculum Leadership. She works primarily in the areas of leadership development and teacher professional learning. Jody designs, studies, and leads programs to develop organizational leadership capacity, particularly as related to implementing the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Jody serves as co-principal investigator of an efficacy study of the professional development program, Science Teachers Learning from Lesson Analysis (STeLLA), and its impact on high school biology student learning and teacher practice. She also leads the professional learning and leadership development components of a study of STeLLA scale up and sustainability in grades 4 and 5 with partner organizations and schools from across Kentucky and Tennessee.

Jim Short

Jim Short is a program director within Carnegie Corporation of New York’s Education program, where he manages the Leadership and Teaching to advance Learning portfolio. Short oversees grantmaking to ensure that all students benefit from content-rich, standards-aligned instruction by funding efforts to strengthen teaching and school leadership, including the development of high-quality instructional materials and curriculum-based professional learning.

An educator with nearly 30 years of experience, Short is an expert in teacher education and professional development. He came to the Corporation from the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, where he was the founding director of the Gottesman Center for Science Teaching and Learning, a role he began in 2007. Short led the museum’s efforts to strengthen science education programs at local and national museums, nonprofit organizations, schools, and school districts, including the New York City Department of Education. At the Gottesman Center, Short’s major initiatives included overseeing the design and implementation of the Urban Advantage program in New York City, a museum and school partnership underway in nearly half the city’s middle schools that supports long-term science investigations and project-based learning by students.

Short earned a Doctor of Education degree from Columbia University’s Teachers College, a Master of Education degree from Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College, and a Bachelor of Science degree in biology from Rhodes College.

Susan Gomez Zwiep

Susan Gomez Zwiep began her career in science education as a middle school science teacher in Los Angeles where she spent over 12 years working in urban schools. Prior to joining BSCS, Susan served as a faculty in the Science Education Department at California State University, Long Beach where she taught courses in undergraduate STEM pathways, teacher preparation and the graduate program in Science Education. Susan was also a Regional Director for the K-12 Alliance@WestEd, providing high-quality professional development in science and mathematics for K12 educators, including the CA NGSS Early Implementer Initiative. Dr. Gomez Zwiep consistently works toward establishing equitable access for all students to rigorous, inquiry-based science instruction and supporting teachers in their journey to become advocates for students, science education, and their own professional development. She has been published in both research and practitioner journals such as Science and Children, Science Scope, the Journal of Science Teacher Education and the International Journal of Mathematics and Science Education. In addition, Gomez-Zwiep has contributed book chapters to publications such as Integrating Inquiry into the Science Classroom: Challenges and Possibilities and Professional Learning Communities for Science Teaching: Lessons from Research and Practice.

She holds a BA in Biology from the University of California, Berkeley, an MA in Education from Whittier College, and a PhD in Science Education from the University of Southern California.

Jenine Cotton-Proby

Jenine Cotton-Proby is a Science Educator in the Professional Learning division of BSCS Science Learning. Prior to joining BSCS, she served for 19 years as a high school Chemistry teacher in the same school district she attended as a student. She taught International Baccalaureate, Advanced Placement, College Prep and Co-Teaching Chemistry as well as almost every other science discipline at least once. While working as a high school Chemistry teacher, she mentored new teachers and helped them make sense of the Next Generation Science Standards. Her passion for leading professional learning prompted her move to BSCS Science Learning where she is currently part of a number of Professional Learning projects and involved in the organization’s commitment to equity and social justice. She lives in Waldorf, Maryland with her family and enjoys the culture and museums in the Washington, DC area.

Dr. Lindsey Mohan

Dr. Lindsey Mohan is the Senior Science Educator, Associate Director for Program Innovation, and Chair, Program Council. She joined BSCS as a Research Scientist in May 2017.

Prior to joining BSCS, Lindsey served as a faculty member for the Alliance for Catholic Education at the University of Notre Dame. In this role, Lindsey taught courses on science assessment and middle school methods in the Master’s in Education program. She also supervised early career teachers in grades 2-12 in Catholic schools impacting underserved student populations and their families.

Lindsey specializes in student learning and instructional materials design in earth and environmental science. Lindsey has designed resources for teachers, for example, serving as the Climate Education manager at National Geographic Society. Prior to her work with National Geographic Society, Lindsey was an integral member of the development team for a carbon cycle learning progression as part of her role with the Environmental Literacy Project at Michigan State University.

In recent years, Lindsey has served as a writer and collaborator on synthesis projects, including Spatial Thinking Concepts and Skills Progression, A Roadmap for 21st Geography Education, Guidelines for Assessing High Quality Instructional Products, and A Synthesis of Math/Science Teacher Leadership Development Programs: Consensus Findings and Recommendations.

Lindsey has a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Notre Dame, and a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology and Educational Technology from Michigan State University. Her dissertation focused on productive discourse in science classrooms.

Dr. Zoe Buck Bracey

Dr. Zoe Buck Bracey is Senior Science Educator and Director of Design for Justice Outcomes at BSCS Science Learning. She works across curriculum development, professional development, and research at BSCS, with a focus on re-framing the endeavor of science education as a tool for equity and social justice. She has been developing curriculum for OpenSciEd for five years and is currently leading the development of a year-long High School Physics Course for the OpenSciEd Developer’s Consortium. Her science background is astrophysics.

Nancy Hopkins-Evans

Nancy Hopkins-Evans joined BSCS Science Learning as the Associate Director for Program Impact in June of 2022. As a former college chemistry professor, she understands and cares deeply about students having exceptional learning experiences in science. These experiences that leverage students’ communities and cultures support their understanding of science concepts as they use phenomena and problems to figure out science ideas instead of learning about science through memorization of facts and theories. She has worked in large and small school systems developing and implementing curriculum, professional learning and assessments aligned to a variety of state standards including, the common core state standards in math and reading, and the Next Generation Science Standards. She presents at conferences and leads professional learning for teachers, principals, directors, and superintendents focused on experiences and activities that support effective teaching and learning for ALL students particularly those from under-served and under-estimated communities. She recently served on a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine committee to develop the consensus study report entitled, Call to Action for Science Education, Building Opportunity for the Future. She holds degrees in chemistry from Chestnut Hill College and Villanova University and earned a Ph.D. in biological chemistry from the University of Michigan.