2009 SSP Fellows Institute Instructors Bios

Cheryl A. Lindeman, Ed.D. is the biology instructor and partnership coordinator at Central Virginia Governor’s School for Science and Technology in Lynchburg, Virginia. She received a B. A. degree in biology from Wittenberg University and M. S .in biology from the University of Akron. At the University of Virginia, Cheryl concentrated her doctoral work in higher education administration, environmental science, and instructional design. Her teaching experience includes courses in high school biology, earth science, college biology, college human anatomy, physiology, and special topics in biotechnology. At CVGS, she assisted in the development and teaching of the junior research course. Currently, she is project director for the CVGS Electron Microscopy Center and project coordinator for a Department of Energy mini-grant through Penn State and three local industries. Over the past 10 years she has served as the Central Virginia Regional Science Fair Director and oversees the operation of the ISEF 9th -12th fair and the Middle School Science Challenge. Cheryl serves as Executive Director of the NCSSSMST and is involved in the planning and implementing the Consortium’s programs. She is a column editor for the NCSSSMST Journal, writing about teaching and learning strategies. Cheryl edited the NCSSSMST Profile and coauthored “A Workable Plant to Incorporate Science Technology Laboratories in the Curriculum” in The Science (1997). Her travels have taken her to Oxford University for the Oxford Round Table and Australia. As the 2004 National Biology Teacher of the Year for Virginia, her current interests are in scanning electron microscopy, biotechnology applications, and local water monitoring projects. She can be reached at clindeman@cvgs.k12.va.us or cheryl.lindeman@ncsssmst.org

 

Martin (Marty) J. Shapiro was the Administrator for the Center for Advanced Technologies (CAT), a magnet school for mathematics, science and technology, in St. Petersburg, Florida. He received his doctorate from the University of Florida in Educational Leadership. Martin helped start the CAT program in 1990 and was responsible for the Center’s unique sequence of coursework that is horizontally and vertically integrated, with Physics as the first science. He believes education is a spirited adventure that is a uniquely human enterprise and that technology provides the creative tools that must be used for the benefit of humanity.
Marty was a member of the Academic Council for the Comprehensive Conceptual Curriculum in Physics (C3P) Project, worked on the development and implementation of the Conceptual
Physics Understanding (CPU) project, and was a contributor to Chemistry, A Study of Matter by Henry Dorin. He has also served on the State of Florida IMCs for Technology Education, Physics and Physical Science. He has been an adjunct chemistry instructor at Daytona Beach CC and St. Petersburg College. He was Co-Director of the Pinellas RSEF for 17 years. He developed Chevron Corporation’s Best Practices Competition and has been involved in developing many summer institutes for teachers.
 Marty has served as President of the NCSSSMST as well as helping to develop the Consortium’s Sloan Diversity Project and the Keystone Project. Martin has also been the editor of the NCSSSMST Journal and a member of the NCSSSMST Board of Directors. He may be reached at mshapiro48@tampabay.rr.com

Jerald (Jay) Thomas is an associate professor of education at Aurora (IL) University and the also serves as the current NCSSSMST President. In addition to teaching graduate courses in educational psychology and adolescent development, Jay also serves as the university’s assessment coordinator. Jay completed his doctorate at Northern Illinois University. He spent fourteen years at the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy (IMSA) , where he completed six years of service with NCSSSMST before joining Aurora University in 2003. With IMSA and NCSSSMST, Jay actively researched, published, and presented on issues of gifted education, math and science education, educational equity, and high school to college transitions. While at AU Jay has also published extensively as well as co-authored several books. Previously he also served as co-editor of the NCSSSMST Journal. He can be contacted by email at jthomas@aurora.edu.


John Kowalski is the Director at the Roanoke Valley Governor’s School for Science and Technology, where he teaches biology and biotechnology.  He attended the University of Notre Dame, receiving a B.S and Ph.D. in biology.  John has served as vice-president and president of the Virginia Association of Science Teachers (VAST) and as program coordinator for the 2004 National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) Eastern Area Convention. He is currently serving as co-director of the Western Virginia Regional Science Fair and program coordinator for the annual VAST conventions.   John received the "Outstanding Biology Teacher of the Year" award from the Virginia Association of Science Teachers in 1996, was chosen as a "Tandy Technology Scholar" in 1997, and received the Virginia "Outstanding Biology Teacher Award" from the National Association of Biology Teachers in 2003. Current interests include the Starnet DNA sequencing project sponsored by the University of Washington and the PREP project involving Arabidopsis research sponsored by the Fralin Biotechnology Center at Virginia Tech. He can be contacted by email at jkowalski@rvgs.k12.va.us.

 

Karen Pikula is currently the Resource Teacher for Mathematics and Science K12 for Dearborn Public Schools in Michigan. She taught statistics and research, along with other math courses at the Dearborn Center for Mathematics, Science & Technology for seven years. Duties included school Science Fair Director and Research Coordinator. Karen is highly qualified in mathematics and chemistry. She holds a Master’s of Art Degree in Liberal Studies from the University of Michigan. She also teaches Probability and Data Analysis for Elementary Teachers at The University of Michigan – Dearborn Campus. Karen is the current treasurer for the National Consortium for Specialized Secondary Schools of Mathematics, Science & Technology (NCSSSMST) and this is her fourth year serving on the Board of Directors. 

William Wallace, PhD, earned a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Maryland and his doctorate in Biochemistry from Case Western Reserve University. He was a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Nobel Laureate Paul Greengard at Yale and The Rockefeller Universities where his research concerned gene expression in the brain. After a visiting professorship at Umea University in Sweden, Bill joined the faculty of Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. His lab focused on the role of endogenous factors that help repair the brain after injury. He subsequently moved to National Institute of Aging to apply this line of research to elucidating the causes of Alzheimer’s disease. As a research scientist, Bill has published over forty research articles and book chapters. His research has won recognition, including The American Society for Cell Biology-Glenn Foundation Award for outstanding biological research in aging. During this time, he mentored research projects of numerous local high school students for the Intel Science Talent Search competition. For the past eleven years, he has taught high school science at Georgetown Day School in Washington D.C. He has taught AP Biology, Physiology, Chemistry, an integrated science course for ninth graders and most recently, a course on biological research methods. Bill was awarded the Outstanding Biology Teacher for Washington D.C. by the National Association of Biology Teachers. He has worked with numerous organizations, including the Koshland Museum and the American Society for Cell Biology to improve secondary school science education.

Bill has been in the unique position of mentoring Intel semi-finalists as both a research scientist in his laboratory and as a science teacher in the classroom. In addition, he has been an evaluator for the competition for many years.