2017-Uteach-Conference-Program.Pdf
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
UTeach Conference 2017 11th Annual May 23–25, 2017 THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN Program AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center • Austin, Texas Featured Speakers Keynote Opening Plenary THOMAS KALIL BRIANNA RAPINI Thomas Kalil is a Senior Advisor to the Brianna Rapini received her B.S. in Biology from Eric and Wendy Schmidt Group and the University of Texas at Austin and is a 2005 Entrepreneur-in-Residence at UC Berkeley. UTeach alumna. She received her master’s degree in educational administration from Previously, Thomas Kalil served as the Sam Houston State University. In her career, Deputy Director for Technology and Rapini has been an AP Biology/Biology teacher, Innovation for the White House Office science instructional specialist, science program coordinator, and of Science and Technology Policy and instructional technology specialist. She was awarded Professional Senior Advisor for Science, Technology Support Staff of the Year at Klein Collins High School in 2015–2016. and Innovation for the National Economic Council. Working with Currently, Rapini enjoys teaching Biology part-time at Klein Collins agencies across the federal government, OSTP’s Technology and High School and working with her sister, Sarina Peterson, on The Innovation Division developed dozens of White House initiatives Amoeba Sisters YouTube channel. that are designed to foster American leadership in innovation, emerging technologies, and the industries of the future. AMBER RODRIGUEZ From 2001 to 2008, Kalil was Special Assistant to the Chancellor Amber Rodriguez graduated in 2014 with a for Science and Technology at UC Berkeley. In 2007 and 2008, Kalil degree in Biology and was the first science was the Chair of the Global Health Working Group for the Clinton graduate of the UTeach program at the University Global Initiative, where he developed new public and private of Texas at Brownsville. Rodriguez teaches sector initiatives in areas such as maternal and child health, under- Environmental Systems at Homer Hanna Early nutrition, and vaccines. College High School, her alma mater. She is the Environmental Systems Strand leader and co-sponsor of Kalil served as the Deputy Assistant to President Clinton for the Thelma Buckley Chapter of the National Honor Society. She Technology and Economic Policy, and the Deputy Director of the also serves as a new teacher mentor for her department and White House National Economic Council. He was the NEC’s point participates in the I-3 Cohort at her campus to implement Common person on a wide range of technology and telecommunications Instructional Framework strategies in the classroom. Her strand issues, such as the liberalization of Cold War export controls, the was awarded first place for growing the largest pumpkin in the allocation of spectrum for new wireless services, and investments Brownsville Independent School District Giant Pumpkin Contest in in upgrading America’s high-tech workforce. He led a number 2016. Rodriguez continues her involvement with UT-RGV’s UTeach of White House technology initiatives, such as the National program by mentoring students currently in the program. In her Nanotechnology Initiative, the Next Generation Internet, bridging spare time, she enjoys photography, traveling, and gardening, and the digital divide, e-learning, increasing funding for long-term she volunteers for the Brownsville Wellness Coalition by supporting information technology research, making IT more accessible to their programs, such as the Brownsville Farmer’s Market, “Dale” people with disabilities, and addressing the growing imbalance Walking Group, and the Community Gardens initiative. between support for biomedical research and for the physical sciences and engineering. He was also appointed by President WILLIAM CHAN Clinton to serve on the G-8 Digital Opportunity Task Force. William Chan graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a bachelor of science Kalil received a B.A. in political science and international in Chemistry in 2008. Since then, he has been economics from the University of Wisconsin at Madison and working at William P. Clements High School completed graduate work at the Fletcher School of Law and in Sugar Land, Texas. He began his career as Diplomacy. He is the author of articles and op-eds on S&T a Chemistry teacher and then transitioned policy, the use of prizes as a tool for stimulating innovation, to teaching AP Environmental Science. Chan has a passion for nanotechnology, nuclear strategy, newborn health, vaccines, the chemistry teaching professional development. He presented at the impact of mobile communications in developing countries, U.S.- NSTA national conference annually between 2010 and 2014 on the Japan trade negotiations, U.S.-Japan cooperation in science and topic of chemistry teaching and learning. technology, the National Information Infrastructure, distributed learning, and electronic commerce. Since 2013, he has been a facilitator at the Rice Excellence in Secondary Science Teaching (RESST) program at Rice University to help teachers develop inquiry-based pedagogy. Last year, Chan received the University of Chicago Outstanding Educator Award. He has begun collaborating with Shenzhen Middle School in China to bring inquiry-based instruction into their classrooms through modeling and professional development sessions. FEATURED SPEAKERS 3 Featured Speakers Closing Plenary LINDSAY PATTERSON, JOE HANSON / IT’S OKAY TO BE SMART MARSHALL ESCAMILLA, AND Dr. Joe Hanson is a science writer, biologist, and SARA ROBBERSON LENTZ / YouTube educator. He is the creator, host, and writer of It’s Okay To Be Smart, an educational TUMBLE science show from PBS Digital Studios that Tumble is a science podcast for kids celebrates curiosity and the pleasure of finding that focuses on how science works. things out. Each episode explores stories of science discovery, with the help of scientists and curious kids. Tumble has a devoted listenership Hanson received his Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin, of children ages 4–12, along with their parents and teachers. It and his past research has ranged from cancer biology to gene- was named one of the “Best of iTunes Podcasts” in 2016, and has editing technologies. His science writing has been featured in been called “Radiolab for kids.” WIRED, Nautilus, and ScientificAmerican.com, and he once had a Twitter conversation with someone in space, which was pretty Lindsay Patterson is the creator, producer, and co-host of cool. Tumble. As a science reporter in public radio, she was inspired to start Tumble when she realized that there were few podcasts made for kids and a dire need for science literacy in society. MODERATOR: BRIANNA RAPINI She is also the co-founder of Kids Listen, a grassroots advocacy Brianna Rapini is a UTeach graduate, a biology organization for high-quality audio for children. teacher, and, with her sister Sarina Peterson, co-creator of The Amoeba Sisters YouTube Marshall Escamilla co-hosts and writes original music for channel. The Amoeba Sisters features cartoon Tumble. By day, he’s the middle and high school music teacher at videos that use humor to engage students Headwaters School in Austin, Texas. By night, he’s a musician and with topics that connect to secondary science volunteer government official. standards. Sara Robberson Lentz is Tumble’s associate producer and editor. Since its creation in 2013, the channel has grown to more than Her background is in multimedia storytelling and science. During 14 million cumulative views and 100,000 subscribers. In January the day, she’s Managing Editor and Digital Content Producer for 2017, The Amoeba Sisters was included with four other channels the University of Texas at Austin. on the Discov’Her, L’Oreal Foundation list of The Women Science YouTubers to Follow in 2017. TYLER DEWITT / SCIENCE WITH TYLER DEWITT Dr. Tyler DeWitt is a research scientist, educator, and digital content creator who is passionate about changing how we approach teaching and learning in the sciences. DeWitt is the creator of one of the most popular instructional channels on YouTube, with tutorial videos on Chemistry, Physics, and Math that are used throughout the world as a supplement to or replacement for traditional textbooks. He is currently working on a project funded by Google to create a 3D VR tour through the inside of a human cell. DeWitt’s TED Talk, about the need to make science education accessible and engaging, has been viewed more than one million times. DeWitt has taught high school Chemistry, Biology, and English at schools in both the United States and South Korea, and he worked as a project manager to develop new K–12 science curricula for the state of Florida. DeWitt holds a Ph.D. in Microbiology from MIT, where he served as a founding staff member of the MIT+K12 video outreach project. At MIT, he was a National Science Foundation Fellow and a Graduate Resident Tutor. 4 FEATURED SPEAKERS Tuesday, May 23 UTEACH STEM EDUCATORS ASSOCIATION (USEA): 10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. EXCELLENCE IN STEM EDUCATION | 104 Registration Check In Interactive Presentation Carrie Culpepper, useA mAnAger, universiTy oF TexAs at AusTin REGISTRATION | LEVEL M2 Michael Odell, uTeAch Tyler co-direcTor; 2017-2018 useA PresidenT, universiTy oF TexAs at Tyler Mariam Manuel, mAsTer TeAcher, TeAchhousTon; useA execuTive BoArd 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. TreAsurer And Alumni rePresentative, universiTy oF housTon STUDENT ORIENTATION | 203 The UTeach STEM Educators Association (USEA) was founded For UTeach students only! Join us for a student orientation from in 2014 and includes all UTeach partner programs, the National 11:00 to 11:45 a.m. We will have lunch afterward at The Carillon. UTeach Alumni Network, and affiliate members. Presenters will discuss the vision for the future of the association and the benefits of being a USEA member. Come hear how you can 1:00 – 2:30 p.m. Opening Plenary be actively involved in the association and help achieve its mission of STEM literacy for all.