STEM21 Featured Speakers & Panelists

Taliah Farnsworth

Taliah Farnsworth is celebrating 10 years at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, where she leads the Museum's virtual school programming suite, including award-winning Virtual Science Academy suite and Scientists in Action broadcast series. Taliah is most excited by people, science, and any opportunity to put the two together, especially if it involves getting her hands dirty. She holds a BA in Cognitive Neuroscience from the University of Denver and a MA of Teaching in Biology from Miami University (Ohio).

Jose Zuniga

Jose Zuniga has been an informal science educator and performer at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science for the last 11 years. Over that time, he has helped develop programing and curricula for many exhibits, ECE audiences, and the planetarium as well as performing live countless times for both students and museum guests.

Dr. Dana L. Zeidler

Dr. Dana L. Zeidler (PhD, MS, BS, AAS) is the Distinguished University Professor of Science Education in the College of Education at the University of South Florida, Tampa. He has developed an international research program in the field of science education centered on socio-scientific issues, taking a sociocultural approach to teaching and learning about how moral and ethical issues can be a means to foster the formation of epistemological sophistication and character in the pursuit of scientific literacy. His work has been cited over 12,000 times in international literature (Goggle Scholar). Professor Zeidler’s recent distinctions include serving as co-editor of the Journal of Research in Science Teaching; receiving the Distinguished Career Award from NARST: A Worldwide Organization for Improving Science Teaching and Learning Through Research; past president of NARST; Distinguished Visiting Professor of Science Education at Ewha Womans University, Seoul, South Korea; Honorary Professor of Science and Environmental Studies at The Hong Kong Institute of Education, The University of Hong Kong; and an Honorary Professor of Science Education at Beijing Normal University. Dr. Zeidler works closely with doctoral students, international scholars, and other leaders in the field.

Grace Fuller

Grace Fuller is director of Animal Welfare for the Detroit Zoological Society (DZS) at the Center for Zoo and Aquarium Animal Welfare and Ethics (CZAAWE). She oversees the Zoo’s welfare assessment programs and scientific research, training and enrichment programs, and educational initiatives, including an online resource center and animal welfare workshops for animal care professionals. Grace joined the DZS in 2014 as the manager of applied animal welfare science in CZAAWE. In that role, she oversaw behavioral research and monitoring efforts, in addition to developing an on-site endocrinology laboratory and program. Before coming to the DZS, she completed a PhD in biology at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland as part of a unique research partnership with Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. Grace studied lighting design for nocturnal primates in captivity for her dissertation. She also completed a post-doc in Indonesia studying the evolutionary ecology of venom in slow lorises. During this time, she conducted a series of studies on the welfare of slow lorises living in sanctuaries after being rescued from the illegal wildlife trade. Grace loves applying science to real-world problems that contribute to improving the lives of captive animals.

Courtney Plotts

Dr. Courtney Plotts is a licensed and certified school psychologist who writes and speaks about culturally responsive teaching and community building. She has written two books on Latino/a and Black culture and online spaces. She is currently the National Chair of the Council for At Risk Student Education and Professional Standards. She has been recognized by the California State Legislature for a bold commitment to change and education. Dr. Plotts offers workshops on topics related to building community and culture in online spaces, effective culturally responsive teaching, and best practices. She was also highlighted in Flower Darby's book Small Teaching Online regarding student culture and online spaces. Currently, she is providing professional development on cultural responsiveness as an academic system of measured support.

Dr. Monya Ruffin-Nash

Dr. Monya A. Ruffin-Nash is a program director at the National Science Foundation in the Directorate for Education and Human Resources in the Division for Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings. During her tenure, she has served as a program officer for several NSF programs and initiatives. In her fifth year, she accepted a position as senior scientist at Emory University and director of Education, Outreach, and Diversity for a large Center for Chemical Innovation funded by the National Science Foundation. In this role, Dr. Ruffin-Nash directed, managed, and oversaw education, outreach, and diversity initiatives and teams across the 23 chemical research laboratories across the country. She has been a member of the National Science Teaching Association for over 25 years. She began her STEM education career as a high school science educator in Georgia and she has also taught at the graduate level. Dr. Ruffin-Nash has a BS in Biology, an MEd in Secondary Science Education (Biology), and a PhD in Teaching and Learning with emphases in Science Education and Education Technology. She also currently holds a valid science teaching license (grades 7–12).

Laura Larkin

Laura Larkin is an Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow at the Department of Defense in the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense, Research & Engineering STEM Office for the 20/21 and 21/22 cohorts. She serves on the Interagency Working Group (IWG) for Computational Literacy and is the executive secretary for the IWG–Inclusion in STEM. She assists the DoD STEM office in overseeing K–16 STEM education activities, outreach, and workforce development. Laura has taught all levels of mathematics at a diverse Title 1 comprehensive high school for 18 years in Redwood City, California. She served as the department chair, founded and coached the award-winning robotics team, mentored several teacher candidates, and chaired the school site council. Prior to her teaching career, Laura was a mechanical engineer in the aerospace field. Laura is passionate about promoting equity in access and equity in outcomes for all students. Her position at DoD STEM aligns with her goals of inspiring underserved students to pursue STEM careers.

Dr. Kama Almasi

Dr. Kama Almasi is a high school and middle school science and math educator with Lincoln County Public Schools on the central Oregon Coast. She is currently serving as an Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in Reston, Virginia, where she is writing science curricula and working on equity issues in education. After teaching Ecology and Biology at the University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point for five years, Kama became a K–12 teacher in 2008 to better address the needs for diversity and equity in STEM fields and because she enjoys working with teenagers. Kama’s teaching philosophy is that math and science education should be culturally and personally relevant to students and centered around inquiry and project-based learning.

Kelly Day

Kelly Day is the Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow at the Department of Energy for the 20/21 and 21/22 cohorts. During her time serving as an Einstein Fellow, Kelly sits on The Interagency Working Group for Convergence education and helps run the DOE-sponsored National Science Bowl. Prior to her AEF placement at the DOE, she spent 11 years teaching seventh-grade mathematics at Westfield Middle School in Westfield, Indiana. In 2015, Kelly received the Fulbright Distinguished Award in Teaching, which allowed her to spend five months living in Finland where she researched Finnish education policy as well as female achievement in mathematics at the University of Helsinki. In 2013, Kelly received an Eli Lilly Endowment Teacher Creativity Grant that funded her independent research on Asian Education Systems and allowed her to observe education systems in seven different Asian nations. In 2017 she served as a Teach Plus Policy Fellow where she worked with legislators on Indiana education reform and sat on a House committee that helped develop the ESSA-based school accountability system for Indiana. Kelly is a dedicated teacher and a passionate advocate for quality education for children around the world.

Suzy Otto

Suzy Otto spent 17 years as a physics and chemistry teacher and STEAM coordinator at Paris High School in the rural community of Paris, Missouri. She is a second career teacher with a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Missouri–Rolla and nine years of petroleum industry engineering experience. Making the decision to become a teacher led Suzy to the University of Missouri–Columbia, where she obtained teaching credentials and a Master’s degree in Science Education Curriculum and Instruction. She brought her engineering experiences into the classroom, providing real-world applications in science lessons and exposing her rural students to some of the college and career opportunities that a STEM education can provide. As a 2020–2021 Einstein Fellow, Suzy served with the Department of Defense in the STEM and Outreach Team at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock Division, where she supported student internship programs, participated in wide-ranging professional development experiences, and developed a STEM-in-a-Box program to bring hands-on, Naval-relevant activities into classrooms across the D.C.-Maryland-Virginia region that Carderock serves.

Mike Vargas

Mike Vargas is a high school physics teacher from Phoenix, Arizona. He is currently serving as an Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow in the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Manufacturing Technology. Mike was the Arizona High School Science Teacher of the Year, an Arizona Teacher of the Year Ambassador for Excellence, and the 2019 Rolls Royce Air Force Association-National Aerospace Teacher of the Year. Mike’s background is in STEM education public policy and he has served as an AAPT/AIP Master Teacher Public Policy Fellow Advisor as well as a member of the Arizona Cactus Caucus. He is a proponent of Physics First and lifetime member of the American Modeling Teachers Association.

Melissa Collins

Melissa Collins has been an elementary school teacher at John P. Freeman Optional School for 21 years, where she is constantly amazed by her students’ curiosity about the world around them. Melissa has mentored several teachers through the National Board process. She is the recipient of several awards and honors, including the 2020 National Teacher Hall of Fame Inductee, the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching, the National Science Teaching Association Sylvia Shugrue Award, the West Tennessee Teacher of the Year, and many more. She is a proud National Board Certified Teacher in the area of Early Childhood Education and serves as a board member on the National Board Professional Teaching Standards. Also, she serves on the National Science Foundation EHR Advisory Board Committee.

Alexander Eden

Alexander Eden teaches high school biology in an urban school district to a diverse population of 10th graders who speak many different languages. Whenever he enters the classroom, whether in-person or virtually, he enters ready to create an environment where students feel appreciated. They leave knowing that they have a voice, they can be themselves, and science is fun. Informal science education experiences that have shaped his teaching include being an overnight instructor at the Boston Museum of Science, an environmental educator for Mass Audubon, and a research technician in a neuroscience lab at an R1 research institution.

Michelle Ellis

As a science teacher, Michelle Ellis wants to create a sense of wonder in her students, making connections with the world around them. As part of the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI), Michelle was on the curriculum unit writing team that supported North Carolina science teachers. Her work with NCDPI has continued over the years, which has led to more formal opportunities through committee and executive board appointments at the local level with the North Carolina Science Teachers Association and the North Carolina Science Leadership Association.

Carla Neely

Carla Neely taught elementary students for 19 years and was responsible for teaching all subjects. Because she had only a small block of time to teach science, she integrated science across all subjects, which showed students that science is in everything that they see and do. In 2019, Carla became the fourth- and fifth-grade science teacher at an African American all-girls school. She began that school year with two goals in mind: creating a STEM-based science classroom and showing students that African American women work in STEM. With the help of professional development, grants, speakers, and field trips, Neely continues to achieve both goals.

LaShan Rose

The first thing LaShan Rose teaches her students is that they are all scientists with scientific minds learning about the world around them. In 2013, LaShan completed the Riverbend Environmental Center Summer Science Institute, learning how to teach inquiry science in the classroom in fun, interactive ways. She incorporated reading and math into her science lessons, and she became the school science teacher after she suggested this change to her administration. She continued to work with Riverbend for two more summers and completed their fellowship program, which allowed her to learn about Aquaponics and to bring an Aquaponics tank to the school.

Mike Vargas

Mike Vargas is a high school physics teacher from Phoenix, Arizona. He is currently serving as an Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow in the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Manufacturing Technology. Mike was the Arizona High School Science Teacher of the Year, an Arizona Teacher of the Year Ambassador for Excellence, and the 2019 Rolls Royce Air Force Association-National Aerospace Teacher of the Year. Mike’s background is in STEM education public policy and he has served as an AAPT/AIP Master Teacher Public Policy Fellow Advisor as well as a member of the Arizona Cactus Caucus. He is a proponent of Physics First and lifetime member of the American Modeling Teachers Association.

Cenia Santana

Cenia Santana has three NYS certifications in TESOL, Bilingual, and Biology 7–12 and currently teaches numerous areas of science, such as applied physics, biology, anatomy, and physiology. Her career highlights include over nine years’ experience working with English Language Learners, receiving more than five fellowships and numerous grants, and being the 2019 winner of the Shell Urban Development Award for Science Teachers. As a fellow for Columbia University’s summer research program, Cenia has presented research in the Murdock Trust Fund’s Partners in Science National Conference.

Tiffany Scott

Tiffany Scott’s opportunities for science professional development have been limited; however, she has attended sessions at the state's Teacher Leaders Conference in June 2019 and the 2018 NSTA STEM Forum & Expo. At these conferences, she participated in sessions that strengthened her knowledge of implementing the NGSS and equipped her with more confidence to facilitate meaningful student-led discussions where students make claims and effectively support them with evidence from class investigations.

Erica Stephens

Erica Stephens makes it a point to implement STEM in her elementary classroom, researching and learning what she should do in the classroom for her urban students. She engages students in inquiry-based learning, the scientific method, and the engineering design process. During the exposure in the classroom, Erica showcases different career options that encompass the work her students enjoy in class. At her school, she also helped implement a STEM Club for students.

John Carlo Tulinao

John Carlo Tulinao has been teaching science, arts, and cultural education in the elementary grades for almost 10 years. He focuses on building connections between science, culture, arts, and daily life experiences. John Carlo’s goal is to make the student understand that STEAM concepts should not be learned separately, but rather, these concepts are interconnected. When Tulinao moved to the United States in 2017, he taught a first-grade class of students with diverse cultural backgrounds and he created a STEAM program that would be relevant to his multicultural classroom and reflect the uniqueness of each culture.

Leslie White

After finishing up course work for a biomedical sciences doctorate program, Leslie White did a rotation focusing on chronic kidney disease where she discovered her love for teaching youth. She taught a short course on Anatomy and Physiology to honors high school students, which solidified her interest in teaching. Leslie was named 2019–2020 Teacher of the Year at her school and was a top five finalist overall for Duval County in 2020. She transitioned to the position of Secondary Science Curriculum Specialist and Coach for her district and is the science specialist for four schools.

Nakia Williams

Nakia Williams is a third-grade science and math teacher who has taught science for the past seven years, using the Science Dimension curriculum the last three years. Nakia loves making her science lessons hands-on learning experiences that are cognitively challenging, collaborative, and fun. She wants her love for science to shine through, which will help inspire interest in her students. She always strives to build her bank of subject material and stay on top of the latest research, which help make her science lessons come alive.

William Penuel

Bill Penuel is Distinguished Professor of Learning Sciences and Human Development in the Institute of Cognitive Science and School of Education at University of Colorado Boulder. He works in partnership with community organizations, school districts, and state agencies to promote equity and justice in science education.

Shirin Vossoughi

Shirin Vossoughi is an associate professor of Learning Sciences at Northwestern University’s School of Education and Social Policy, where she draws on ethnographic and interactional methods to study the cultural, sociopolitical, and ethical dimensions of human learning. Her research centers on hybrid learning environments that blend formal and informal elements and support young people to develop, question, and expand disciplinary and artistic knowledge in ways that nourish educational self-determination. Shirin’s current work looks closely at teaching and learning in making/STEAM environments (elementary and middle school students), and examines the role of written feedback on student writing in the context of political education (high school and college students). She has taught in schools and after-school and summer programs, and has served as director of a summer camp for youth in the Iranian diaspora. She takes a collaborative approach to research, partnering with teachers, families, and students to co-design and study the conditions that foster educational dignity and possibility.

Christopher Collins

Chris Collins started his career as a middle school math teacher in Cajon Valley School District, working to excite students about a future in math and science. He now works as a Teacher Coach with the World of Work program in Cajon Valley. Chris spends his time coaching teachers and writing curricula to help show every student that they have unique strengths, interests, and values and a dream job they are perfectly suited for.

Ann Ishimaru

Dr. Ann M. Ishimaru is an associate professor of Educational Policy, Organizations, and Leadership at the University of Washington’s College of Education. In her scholarship, she partners with minoritized families and communities as well as systems leaders to codesign educational justice and community well-being in preK–12 education. Ann received the 2017 AERA Exemplary Contributions to Practice-Engaged Research Award, has published numerous peer-reviewed journal articles, and recently published the book Just Schools: Building Equitable Collaborations with Families and Communities with Teachers College Press.