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Teaching Science with Food Safety
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Alan M. Tart
Alan Tart received a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology with a minor in Chemistry
from Berry College in Rome, GA. In 1997, after a short stint of teaching high school
biology and physical science, Alan joined the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
as a Microbiologist in FDA’s Southeast Regional Laboratory.
In 1999, Alan became a Regional Retail Food Specialist. Alan's responsibilities
include performing food safety surveillance and oversight for Special Security Events
like the G8 Summit and Olympics and disaster relief efforts such as Hurricanes Katrina,
Rita, and Gustav and representing FDA on numerous national food safety and food
defense committees.
In 2004, Alan was elected by his peers to serve as Co-Team Leader for the FDA National
Retail Food Field Team. In this capacity, Alan serves as a member of FDA’s Retail
Food Steering Committee that is responsible for formulating and coordinating the
Agency’s strategic plan and policy on retail food safety issues.
Alan is a recent graduate of the Atlanta Federal Executive Board Leadership Government
Program – a distinctive program that is designed to enhance the team building, leveraging,
and interpersonal skills of government leaders. This program provides essential
training to government leaders in such topics as emergency preparedness, recruitment
and retention of the best and brightest employees, conflict resolution, communication,
and community engagement.
Dr. Sufian Alkhaldi
Dr. Alkhaldi is a principal investigator of the DNA Microarray
Laboratory in the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition at the US
Food and Drug Administration in College Park, Maryland. He graduated
from Oklahoma State University in 1992 with a Masters degree in
Microbiology and Molecular Genetics. He completed his Ph.D. in 1998 in
the field of Microbiology, Cell, and Molecular Biology also at Oklahoma
State University. Dr. Alkhaldi conducted two postdoctoral studies. The
first one was pursued at the University of Georgia (UGA. Dr. Alkhaldi's
second postdoctoral work was at Emory University. He was selected to
manage the DNA Microarray core facility at Yerkes Primate Research
Center.
Dr. Alkhaldi's work focuses on identifying pathogenic virulence
genes isolated from food. Dr. Alkhaldi is also a field outbreak
investigator. He is an adjunct professor at the School of Medicine and
Health Sciences at George Washington University's graduate program in
Genomics, Proteomics and Bioinformatics since 2005. As of July 7th 2007,
Dr. Alkhaldi's work is documented at considerable length in 19
peer-reviewed scientific publications covering original research, nine
review articles and chapters, and two patents. Dr. Alkhaldi's research
has been recognized by ten awards since 2000. For complete information
of his work please go to www.Suf-Microarray.com.
Elena Stowell
Elena Stowell is currently an assistant facilitator for the Science and our Food
Supply Professional Development Program. Elena teaches AP Biology at Kentwood High
School in Covington, Washington. She has been teaching high school science for fifteen
years. Elena received a BS in Biology from Washington State University and an MS
in Animal Science, also from WSU. Her graduate work in beef cattle nutrition included
the enzymatic characterization of the cellulolytic ruminal anaerobe Neocallimastix
frontalis EB188, a fungus she discovered. In 2000 Elena received the Outstanding
Biology Teacher Award for Washington state (by NABT) and her National Board Certification
(AYA Science) in 2001. In addition to her work with the Science and our Food Supply
Program, Elena is also a Science Education Partner in biotechnology with the Fred
Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (Seattle, WA), a teacher mentor, basketball coach
and mom.
Ken Bingman
Ken is currently in his 44th year of teaching. He is in his sixth year of teaching
Honors and AP Biology at Blue Valley High School in Overland Park, KS. Ken is the
High School Facilitator for the FDA/NSTA Science and Our Food Supply Program. He
was a member of the steering committee (1999) and the field tested the original
materials in 2001. Ken has been active in the development of educational programs
for thirty years. He has worked with NSTA, FDA, National Institutes of Health, Biological
Sciences Curriculum Study (BSCS), National Association of Biology Teachers (NABT),
JMH Education, New York, and the Kansas Board of Education. He was a committee member
to develop the National Science Education Standards and the Kansas Science Education
Standards. He was a Presidential Award Winner for Excellence in the Teaching of
Science in 1984. He was a Fulbright Memorial Fund Fellow to Japan in 1999. He was
named National Biology Teacher of the Year in 1998.
Ken has traveled to 25 countries as a delegation leader for the People to People
Student Ambassador Program. He was inducted into the Kansas Teachers Hall of Fame
in 1998. During the Kansas evolution controversy, Ken was featured in Time Magazine,
Globe Mail, and the Asahi Shimbum, a daily newspaper in Tokyo and he was on talk
programs on PBS, NPR, and MSNBC.
Mimi Cooper
Mimi Cooper is currently the Senior Middle Level Facilitator for the Science and
Our Food Supply Professional Development Program. She has served in this role since
the beginning of the program in 1999. She was also a member of the NSTA Expert Panel
that was part of the team that developed the curriculum - Science and Our Food Supply.
Mimi was a middle level classroom teacher in Peabody Massachusetts for twenty-eight
years. For five years she was a partner in the consulting firm - Northeast PALMS,
Inc. where she worked with elementary and middle level science and mathematics teachers
in their classrooms to implement inquiry-based curricula and with school systems
to align their curricula with state and national standards. Mimi received her undergraduate
degree from Wilkes University and her graduate degree from Boston College. She is
a member of the Massachusetts Hall of Fame of Science Teachers.
Sherri A. McGarry
Ms. McGarry is a Foodborne Outbreak Coordinator on the Emergency Coordination and
Response Staff in the Office of Compliance, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition,
U.S. Food and Drug Administration. She has over 15 years of experience in working
at the FDA and most currently investigates and responds to emergencies, including
terrorism events, involving food and cosmetic products regulated by FDA. These activities
involve coordination with other federal agencies, industry, states, foreign governments,
and other stakeholders. Ms. McGarry is involved in developing Emergency Response
Plans and Procedures for both the Center and Agency, planning and implementing bioterrorism
exercises, and providing microbiological expertise in ongoing foodborne outbreaks
and food defense activities. To prevent future produce-related outbreaks, Ms. McGarry
has developed and trained domestic and international officials in Good Agricultural
Practices and served on teams investigating fruit production and packing.
Earlier in her career at FDA, she evaluated domestic and international laboratories
and conducted wastewater disinfection research. She earned a Master of Science degree
in Microbiology from the University of Rhode Island. She is a member of the International
Association for Food Protection, American Society for Microbiology, and the AOAC
International.
For more information contact symposia@nsta.org
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Underwritten in part by FDA |