Education and Work Experience

Mortar board with a tassle

  • My degrees: undergraduate is from Smith College (Northampton, MA) with a major in physics and a minor in theater; masters is from DePaul University (Chicago, IL) in physics; doctorate in science education with a focus on physics education from Boston University (Boston, MA).

  • I was a postdoc at Western Michigan University (Kalamazoo, MI) for 3 years, working with Charles Henderson. Similar to now, my work varied from day to day as I was doing quite a bit of evaluation work along with postsecondary STEM education research during that time.

  • I've remained in Michigan after my postdoc. For about 7 years, I exclusively worked for myself as a consultant/project manager/evaluator/researcher on a plethora of projects. In January 2024, I became the full-time director of the Physics and Astronomy (P/A) SEA Change which is a collaboration of 11 professional societies and AAAS SEA Change. This is a program that is supporting physics and astronomy departments in becoming equitable and excellent through data-supported self-discovery, reflection, and action planning. I get to leverage a lot of my prior experiences and knowledge in co-developing this program.

    I still keep up the consulting work, as I think it’s valuable for many reasons. If you are interested in working with me or are curious about my services, please check out this page.​

Research Areas/Interests

Decorative graphic of plots and data

  • My work delves into postsecondary education and includes students (undergraduate and graduate), postdocs, staff, and faculty. I primarily work in physics education, but have worked with researchers from other STEMM disciplines (e.g., math, biology, chemistry).

  • Much of my work involves some if not all of the following: sustainability and adoption of education practices/projects/innovations; change in educational practices; culture and climate within various professional and academic settings; equity and inclusion; studying research practices and methodologies; leadership; and social experiences within STEMM spaces, particularly learning spaces.

  • The most updated and easiest way to check out my publications is Google Scholar.

A Few Current Projects and Activities

An open book

  • Co-guest editor for Physical Review- Physics Education Research (Phys. Rev.- PR or PRPER) Focused Collection, Qualitative Methods in PER: A Critical Examination.

  • External evaluation on a computation integration project within the University of Minnesota Twin Cities Physics and Astronomy Department.

  • External evaluation on a computation integration professional development project called PICUP.

  • Member of a working group looking at what is working and not working in the undergraduate physics curriculum. The project is referred to as REV UP (stylized in all sorts of ways).

  • Member of the APS Committee on Careers and Professional Development.

  • Co-lead of the Physics Education Research Technical Section for the National Society of Black Physicists (NSBP).

A Few Past Projects and Activities

A checklist with all items check off.

  • Co-PI on a grant that is called the Data Science Education Community of Practice (DSECOP), funded by a grant through the American Physical Society (APS) Innovation Fund.

  • Co-organized the Physics Education Research Conference (PERC) in 2020. Our theme was Insights, Reflections, & Future Directions: Emergent Themes in the Evolving PER Community.

  • Chair of AAPT's Committee on Diversity in Physics for 2021. I was previously vice-chair during 2020.

  • Since I was graduate student, I’ve mentored quite a few students through the Gates Millennium Scholars program.