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Arctic and Antarctic Living Systems
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Dr. Kathleen Gorski
Kathleen Gorski is an Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow at the National
Science Foundation in the Office of Polar Programs. Describing herself as an “industrial
escapee”, her path to the classroom began at Western New England College, where
she earned her B.S. in chemistry and education. After doing biochemical research
at the Joslin Diabetes Foundation, she attended the University of Massachusetts
at Amherst, where she earned M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in chemistry.
Although Kathy spent a great deal of time in instructional activities, helping to
develop the University’s chemistry multimedia resource room including online assessments
and working with the School of Engineering to strengthen their minority outreach
programs, she left graduate school to work in the instrumentation industry. In 1998,
she returned to her first love and has been teaching middle school science since.
Kathy has helped found The Nativity School of Worcester, a middle school for boys
living in the city’s vulnerable neighborhoods. As Dean of Academic Affairs, Dr.
Gorski created and deepened the entire school curriculum and established inquiry-based
programs in math and science. She wants her students to be eager to learn new things,
and the best way to make them eager is to truly engage them in the material. She
doesn't lecture very often. "Science is a verb," Dr. Gorski says. In addition to
teaching science and technology classes, she also directs the school's summer camps,
acts as librarian, administers the school's technology, and organizes professional
development for the faculty.
Kathy is excited to bring her skills and talents to Washington DC to help advance
science education in this country. She is an active member of many professional
organizations, and has many publications to her name, both chemical and educational.
Dr. Brendan Kelly
Dr. Brendan Kelly is Associate Vice President for Research and Associate Professor
of Marine Biology at the University of Alaska. Presently, he is serving a two-year
assignment as Program Director for Arctic Biology in the Office of Polar Programs
at the National Science Foundation. He received degrees in Biology from the University
of California Santa Cruz (B.A.), the University of Alaska Fairbanks (M.S.), and
Purdue University (Ph.D.). Dr. Kelly has been studying polar marine mammals for
the past 30 years, and he serves on local, state, national, and international scientific
panels.
Dr. William Robertson
Bill Robertson is an Assistant Professor in the College of Education in the Teacher
Education Department at UTEP. His areas of expertise are in science education, curriculum
development and technology integration in the K-12 levels. Previous to coming to
UTEP, Dr. Robertson worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL).
Dr. Robertson is also a long time participant, competitor and performer in skateboarding
with over 30 years experience in the sport. As Dr. Skateboard, he maintains www.Dr.Skateboard.com
that combines the best of both education and extreme sports for use in the classroom.
Dr. Craig Tweedie
Craig Tweedie received his university level training at The University of Queensland,
completing a BSc (1992), BScHons(1995) and PhD (2000) in Botany. He spent nearly
2 years on subantarctic Macquarie Island, one of Australia’s 4 permanently occupied
Antarctic bases, while completing his PhD on the autecology of six subantarctic
plant species along altitudinal gradients.
Between 2000 and 2005, he was employed by Michigan State University as a visiting
research associate where his passion for Arctic and functional ecological research
and international scientific networking was established. Whilst at MSU, he also
co-lead two study abroad courses to Antarctica. Dr Tweedie has been an Assistant
Professor at UTEP, jointly appointed in the Department of Biological Sciences and
Department of Environmental Science and Engineering Program, since 2005.
Dayna Weiler
Dayna Weiler is lead teacher for the Montessori Borealis Adolescent Program (7th
-9th grades) in Juneau, Alaska where she teaches science, history, math, health,
and art. Ms. Weiler received degrees in History from Winthrop University (B.A.),
Biology (B.S.) and Masters in Teaching from University of Alaska Southeast (M.A.).
Debbie Chalmers
Debbie Chalmers teaches language arts, social studies, science and GIS/GPS for the
Montessori Borealis Adolescent Program in Juneau Alaska. Ms. Chalmers began teaching
in 1976 with a B.S. in Education from Western Connecticut State University and is
an on-going graduate student at University of Alaska Southeast, Anchorage and Fairbanks
campuses. She activated her interest in geography and science education in 1992
when she participated in her first Alaska Geographic Alliance Institute study of
Alaska geology along the Kenai Peninsula. She has since sought out place-based professional
development opportunities for hands-on science and geography learning and teaching.
She facilitated collaborative student research projects with scientists as the teacher
on-board the 2001 Harriman Expedition Retraced. Ms. Chalmers and her students are
currently piloting newly developed AEJEE software (ArcExplorer Java Edition for
Education) developed for Apple computers.
For more information contact symposia@nsta.org
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Underwritten in part by NSF, NASA, and NOAA.
