Appendix C
Brief Biographies of Committee Members and Presenters
COMMITTEE COCHAIRS
Jennifer Peck is the executive director of the Partnership for Children and Youth in Oakland. Since joining the Partnership in 2001, she has launched initiatives to build afterschool and summer programs, meal programs, and nutrition education programs in California’s lowest-income communities. She created the California Afterschool Advocacy Alliance and the State Legislative Task Force on Summer Learning, and cochairs California’s Summer Matters Campaign. In 2011, she was appointed senior policy advisor and transition team director for Tom Torlakson, state superintendent of public instruction. Prior to the Partnership, she was an appointee of President Clinton at the U.S. Department of Education.
Mike Town teaches Advanced Placement environmental science and environmental engineering and sustainable design at STEM High School in Redmond, Washington. He has been recognized with numerous awards for his teaching and was also awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) Einstein Fellowship. He has written environmental and STEM curricula, including the Cool School Challenge, which won the Environ-mental Protection Agency Clean Air Award. He has worked on reports and workshops from the National Academies on climate change education, successful K-12 STEM education, and integrated STEM. He is a member of the Teachers Advisory Committee for the National Academies.
COMMITTEE MEMBERS
Margaret Gaston is president of Gaston Education Policy Associates in Washington, DC. She founded the Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning, and was appointed by the governor to the California Commission for Teacher Credentialing, serving as chair of the Legislative Committee and vice chair of the Commission. At the California Department of Education, she oversaw the School Improvement Program, Community Education, and other reform efforts. Gaston has been a teacher and administrator and is the education policy advisor to the California Council on Science and Technology.
Laura Henriques is professor of science education at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB). Prior to arriving at CSULB in 1995, she taught middle and high school physics and physical science. She has been principal investigator (PI) or co-PI on a number of grants, including the NSF Noyce Scholars Programs (I & II) and a PhysTEC grant. She directed the Young Scientists Camp and a summer science camp for youth and homeless children, and spearheaded a program to help elementary teachers and laid-off teachers earn a Foundational Level General Science credential. She is currently the president of the California Science Teachers Association.
Anita Krishnamurthi is the vice president for STEM policy at the Afterschool Alliance, where she leads efforts to advance policies, research, and partnerships to provide STEM education experiences in afterschool programs. She is an astronomer by training. Over the past decade, she has been involved in science education and outreach through a range of roles at the National Academy of Sciences, NASA, and the American Astronomical Society.
Claudia Walker has been a teacher for 22 years in North Carolina and New Jersey. For the last six years, she has taught mathematics and science at Murphey Traditional Academy in Greensboro. She is also a grant coordinator and tech team leader. She received a National Board Teacher Certification in 2003 and renewed her certification in 2013. She is the Singapore Math Coach for her school and is a member of a cohort implementing Engineering Is Elementary. The recipient of a Career Award for Science and Mathematics Teachers from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund in 2010, she has been a member of the Teacher Advisory Council since 2012.
PRESENTERS AND DISCUSSANTS
Bruce Alberts has served as editor in chief of Science (2008-2013) and as one of President Obama’s first three United States Science Envoys (2009-2011). He holds the Chancellor’s Leadership Chair in biochemistry and biophysics for science and education at the University of California, San Francisco, to which he returned after serving two six-year terms as the president of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS). Alberts is noted as an original author of The Molecular Biology of the Cell and has earned many honors and awards, including 16 honorary degrees. He currently serves on the advisory boards of more than 25 nonprofit institutions.
Bronwyn Bevan is director of the Exploratorium Institute for Research and Learning. She serves as principal investigator on several projects, including the NSF MSP Research+Practice Collaboratory, California Tinkering Network, and the NSF-funded Relating Research to Practice Website. She sits on the California STEM Afterschool Advisory Committee and the National Research Council’s Committee on STEM Learning in Out-of-School Settings, and is coeditor of the Science Learning in Everyday Life section of the journal Science Education.
Katherine Bihr is the vice president of programs and education for the Tiger Woods Foundation (TWF). Prior to joining TWF, she was the principal of Vista View Middle School in Fountain Valley, California. Additionally, she served on the Superintendent’s Cabinet in the Ocean View School District, providing guidance in the areas of physical education and the visual/performing arts. Bihr serves on several boards and on the Department of Education Leadership Council for University of California, Irvine and California State, Fullerton. In Washington, DC, she is chairman of the board of trustees for the Cesar Chavez Charter Schools for Public Policy.
Margaret Honey joined the New York Hall of Science (NYSCI) as president and CEO in 2008. Under her leadership, NYSCI has adopted Design-Make-Play as its signature strategy to promote STEM engagement and learning. She serves as a board member of the National Research Council’s Board on Science Education and the National Science Foundation’s Education and Human Resources Advisory Committee.
Gerald Solomon has served as the Samueli Foundation’s executive director since 2008. Prior to the Samueli Foundation, Solomon served as CEO of Public Health Foundation Enterprises for seven years. He currently serves on many boards and committees and actively supports and works with Grantmakers in Health and Grantmakers for Education on local,
regional, and national issues. His career has also included 18 years as a civil trial attorney and judge pro tem.
Elizabeth Stage is the director of the Lawrence Hall of Science, University of California, Berkeley. She has taught middle school through graduate students; done research in equity; developed, evaluated, and led curriculum and professional development programs; and worked on standards and assessments in California, nationally, and internationally.
Saskia Traill is the vice president of policy and research at TASC, a New York City-based organization redesigning learning opportunities for STEM and other disciplines. She leads research and policy efforts for TASC’s ExpandED Schools, a reinvention of urban public schools that includes the integration of formal and informal science learning. She has coauthored articles, policy briefs, and reports on a range of issues, including engaging children in STEM and how to fund innovative education strategies.
Kathleen Traphagen is an independent writer and strategist. Her client portfolio includes national networks of philanthropies focused on out-of-school time and STEM learning, and local networks focused on reading proficiency (Springfield, Massachusetts) and K-12 education (Boston). She served as executive director of the Boston 2:00-to-6:00 After-School Initiative and as senior policy analyst for the Mayor’s Office of Intergovernmental Relations in Boston. She is an elected member of the Amherst (Massachusetts) School Committee.
Janet Yamaguchi is the vice president of education at the Discovery Science Center in California. She has more than 30 years of experience in teaching, educational program design, curriculum development, and teacher professional development. She has written labs for Holt, McDougal Textbook Publishing Company; developed and taught an Afterschool Instruction course for the University of California, Irvine, Department of Education; and is currently serving on the Next Generation Science Standards Science Expert Panel for the California Department of Education.
CynDee Zandes worked for 39 years in the Greenfield Union School District in California. She is an educator, trainer, speaker, musician, and writer, and currently is the chief program officer for THINK Together, a nonprofit providing afterschool and educational services in Southern California. She is leading the team creating a first-in-class afterschool program, focused on high-quality STEM, wellness, career to college, and project-based learning opportunities.
