Outreach
The Outreach subcommittee works to promote awareness of DBER-SiT and to provide a channel of communication among DBER-SiT members.
Toward this end, the subcommittee will:
For more information about this subcommittee or to volunteer on this subcommittee please contact Crystal Uminski at caucos@rit.edu or Erika Williams at elwilliams@aggies.ncat.edu.
Toward this end, the subcommittee will:
- Maintain and update the website regularly
- Highlight and promote the activities of other DBER-SiT committees and members-at-large
- Create and distribute regular newsletters
- Promote access to resources for DBER-SiT members
- Maintain a presence on social media (follow us on Twitter @DBER_SiT!)
For more information about this subcommittee or to volunteer on this subcommittee please contact Crystal Uminski at caucos@rit.edu or Erika Williams at elwilliams@aggies.ncat.edu.
Crystal Uminski (she/her/hers) co-chair outreach |
Crystal Uminski received a PhD from University of Nebraska - Lincoln, where she worked with Brian Couch to study assessments in introductory biology courses. Crystal's interest in assessments stemmed from her experiences as a high school biology teacher and her previous role developing standardized science tests at the Educational Testing Service. She is currently a postdoc researcher at Rochester Institute of Technology where she is mentored by Dr. Dina Newman and Dr. Kate Wright. Her research at RIT aims to understand students' visual literacy in molecular biology. In her spare time, Crystal enjoys watching movies and meticulously maintains her Letterboxd account. Crystal dotes on her very spoiled cat Delilah.
Email: caucos@rit.edu; website: crystaluminski.com; Twitter: @CrystalUminski |
Erika L. Williams (she/her/hers) co-chair outreach |
Ph.D. Student at North Carolina A&T State University, studying Applied Science and Technology with a concentration in STEM Education. A native of Greensboro NC, I received my Bachelor's of Science and Biology Education from North Carolina A&T in 2003. I completed work for my Master's in Biology in 2007. I was a high school science teacher for 18 years before leaving to focus on my doctorate. Areas of interest include recruitment and retention of BIPOC (especially women) in STEM and Undergraduate Research Experiences.
Email: elwilliams@aggies.ncat.edu; LinkedIn |
Past Chairs
Haider Ali Bhatti (he/him) co-chair outreach |
As a child, Ali and his family immigrated to the United States from Pakistan and settled in Englewood, New Jersey. As a proud New Jerseyan, he earned his Bachelor's degree in Biological Sciences at Rutgers University–New Brunswick, followed by a Master's degree in Biological Science Education at the Rutgers Graduate School of Education. After graduating, he taught high school biology and also worked at Khan Academy as a biology content fellow.
Currently, he’s a PhD candidate in the SESAME program at the University of California, Berkeley where his research focuses on how we can make undergraduate STEM education more inclusive, interpersonal, and interdisciplinary. He specializes in assessment, evaluation, and design-based research. In his dissertation research, Ali is measuring the development of "Innovation Skills" in undergraduate students taking a course called "Bioinspired Design." In this course, students work in collaborative, interdisciplinary teams to solve design problems in society with design solutions inspired by nature. Ali is a practicing Muslim and firmly believes in the mutually reinforcing nature of Islam and science. In his free time, he loves watching and playing sports, so you can catch him on the basketball court missing wide open shots or turning off the TV in frustration as his favorite teams (Nets & Mets) maintain their mediocrity. Email: haideralibhatti@berkeley.edu; website: BIALIGY.com/ali; UC Berkeley Bioinspired Design Program: biodesign.berkeley.edu; LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/bialigy |
David Esparza co-chair outreach |
David Esparza is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Cornell University working alongside Dr. Michelle K. Smith in the Cornell Discipline-based Education Research Group. His research focuses on defining how social interaction between students in undergraduate lab and field courses relates to their cognitive and affective development. He is motivated by his goal to help build a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive STEM landscape. Before his Ph.D., he completed his B.A. in Biological Sciences at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). At UTEP, David worked with Dr. Jeffrey T. Olimpo to assess relationships between student behaviors and outcomes in course-based undergraduate research experiences. When he is not wearing his researcher hat, Dave enjoys going to concerts, making music, tending to his many houseplants, tasting/rating craft beer, birding, and playing video games.
Email: de245@cornell.edu |
