Project Team

2022 Award Research team:

Jessica Blois(PI) is Professor in the Department of Life and Environmental Sciences at University of California Merced,  Faculty Director of UC Merced's Natural Reserves System, and the Associate Chair of the Neotoma Paleoecology Database. She is an NSF CAREER awardee and recipient of the International Biogeography Society's MacArthur & Wilson Award. Her research interests include paleoecology, biogeography, community ecology, and paleo-informatics, primarily centered on North American mammals. Her research is supported by a range of programs at NSF.

Melissa Burt (PI) is Assistant Dean for Diversity and Inclusion in the Walter Scott Jr. College of Engineering and Assistant Professor in the Department of Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University. Burt is Vice-President of the Earth Science Women's Network (ESWN) and a member of the No Time for Silence anti-racist collective. Burt was recognized by Colorado State University with the President's Council on Culture Award and was awarded the Charles E. Anderson Award by the American Meteorological Society, for outstanding contributions to the promotion of diversity in atmospheric science and broader communities through education and community service.

Meredith Hastings (PI) is a Professor in the Department of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences and the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society at Brown University. Her research interests span air quality, atmospheric chemistry, acid deposition and biogeochemistry, supported by a range of programs at NSF and NOAA. Hastings co-founded and currently serves as President of the Earth Science Women's Network (ESWN). She is the recipient of an NSF CAREER Award, AGU's Atmospheric Science Ascent Award and was named one of Insight into Diversity's 100 Most Inspiring Women in STEM

Erika Marín-Spiotta (Lead PI) is a Professor of Geography, UW-Madison. She leads the Biogeochemistry and Biogeography Lab that studies how changes in climate and land use alter terrestrial ecosystem processes, such as nutrient and carbon cycling, with a focus on soil processes. She is the recipient of a NSF CAREER award, a Presidential Early Career Award in Science and Engineering, a Sulzman Award for Excellence in Education and Mentoring and an Ambassador Award, both from the American Geophysical Union (AGU), and a President's Award from the Association for Women Geoscientists. She is Fellow of AGU and of the Ecological Society of America.

Allison Mattheis (PI) is Associate Professor of Applied and Advanced Studies in Education at California State Univ., Los Angeles. She is a lead researcher of the national Queer in STEM project. She has experience designing and implementing professional development programs on curriculum improvement. She teaches in programs to prepare teachers, K-12 leaders, and higher education professionals as social justice advocates in diverse learning spaces and conducts Safe Zone trainings.

Blair Schneider (PI) is an Associate Researcher and Science Outreach Manager for the Kansas Geological Survey. She is a Past-President of the Association for Women Geoscientistsand past-chair of the Society of Exploration Geophysicists Women's Network Committee.She has a Ph.D. and M.S. in Geophysics from the University of Kansas, and completed a postdoc in STEM Education at the University of Kansas Center for Teaching Excellence.

Billy Williams (PI) is Senior Vice President for Diversity, Ethics, and Inclusion at the American Geophysical Union (AGU). Williams leads the NSF-funded LANDInG.Williams was a member of the 2017-2018 National Academies' Committee on Impact of Sexual Harassment in Academic Science, Engineering and Medicine. Prior to joining AGU, he served as a senior program officer at the National Academies of Sciences and as a global research and development director at the Dow Chemical Company.

Christine Bell (Internal Evaluator) is Associate Researcher and Evaluator at the Wisconsin Center for Education Research. Bell has extensive experience in the development, implementation, evaluation, and dissemination of faculty training about departmental climate on gender and racial bias.

Julie Maertens (External Evaluator) is Senior Evaluator at the Colorado State Univ. STEM Center. Dr. Maertens has experience conducting large-scale, multi-site program evaluations with the State of Colorado, and regularly works with researchers to design and implement federally-funded STEM education and outreach evaluations.

Hannah Horinek (Program Manager) is the program manager for the ADVANCEGeo Partnership. Hannah attended Fort Hays State University in Hays, Kansas, for her BA in Environmental Geosciences. Her background is in paleontology, where she spent her early career working on preserving and digitizing fossil collections at both the Sternberg Museum of Natural History and the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology.

Kjir Hendrickson (Associate Researcher) is a Teaching Professor at the Arizona State University School of Molecular Sciences. Their teaching and scholarship focuses on the communication breakdown between the scientific community and the public, and methods of improving science communication. They also develop and teach STEM courses to older adult learners nationwide through the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI), and serve on the leadership council for OLLI at ASU.

 

2017 Award Research team:

 

Erika Marín-Spiotta (Lead PI) is a Professor of Geography, UW-Madison. She leads the Biogeochemistry and Biogeography Lab that studies how changes in climate and land use alter terrestrial ecosystem processes, such as nutrient and carbon cycling, with a focus on soil processes.She served on the Leadership Council of the Earth Science Women's Network (ESWN) and is past co-PI of an ADVANCE PAID award to support early-career women geoscientists and served on the American Geophysical Union's Ethics Task Force.

Billy Williams is Senior Vice President for Diversity, Ethics, and Inclusion at the American Geophysical Union (AGU). As a member of the senior team reporting to the Executive Director/CEO, he works with the Council in designing and implementing AGU's scientific agenda and work plan.  Williams was the principal investigator and lead organizer for a 2016 workshop funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) titled, "Sexual Harassment in the Sciences: A Call to Respond." Williams was a member of the 2017-2018 National Academies' Committee on Impact of Sexual Harassment in Academic Science, Engineering and Medicine. Prior to joining AGU, he served as a senior program officer at the National Academies of Sciences and as a global research and development director at the Dow Chemical Company.

Blair Schneider is an Associate Researcher and Science Outreach Manager for the Kansas Geological Survey. She is a Past-President of the Association for Women Geoscientists (AWG) and the 2019-2020 chair of the Women's Network Committee for the Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG). She has a Ph.D. and M.S. in Geophysics from the University of Kansas, and completed a postdoc in STEM Education at the University of Kansas Center for Teaching Excellence.

Meredith Hastings is a Professor in the Department of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences and the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society at Brown University. Her research interests span air quality, atmospheric chemistry, acid deposition and biogeochemistry, supported by a range of programs at NSF and NOAA. Hastings co-founded and currently serves as President of the Earth Science Women's Network (ESWN).

Asmeret Asefaw Berhe is Professor of Soil Biogeochemistry and Falasco Chair in Earth Sciences at the Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of California, Merced. She is a NSF CAREER awardee, past PI and co-PI of NSF grants that supported participation of women and underrepresented minorities in research and outreach. She has received the Geological Society of America's Bromery Award and is a member of the inaugural class of the US National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine's New Voices in Science, Engineering, and Medicine.

Rebecca Barnes is on the ESWN Leadership Council and an Associate Professor in the Environmental Program at Colorado College. Barnes has contributed to and facilitated professional development skills' workshops for early career scientists on university campuses and at professional society meetings. She is currently co-PI on a NSF-funded, Improving Undergraduate STEM Education project to improve the recruitment and persistence of women in the geosciences.

Allison Mattheis is an Associate Professor of Applied and Advanced Studies in Education at California State Univ., Los Angeles. She is a lead researcher of the national Queer in STEM project. She has experience designing and implementing professional development programs on curriculum improvement. She teaches in programs to prepare teachers, K-12 leaders, and higher education professionals as social justice advocates in diverse learning spaces and conducts Safe Zone trainings.

Vicki Magley is Professor of Psychology at University of Connecticut and past President of Society for Occupational Health Psychology. She is an expert on sexual harassment, workplace incivilities and climate, and occupational health, gender and stress and served on the National Academy of Sciences Sexual Harassment Working Group.

 

ADVANCEGeo Project Students:

 

Sunita Nandihalli completed her Masters in Counseling Psychology at UW-Madison.

Haley Burkhardt was a Masters student in Biological Anthropology at UW-Madison.

Megan Murphy received her B.S. in Biology and Dance from UW-Madison. Megan was past Chair of STIXA UW Madison, the student Title IX advisory committee.

Lauren Zeeck graduated with an M.S. from Colorado School of Mines in Economic Geology.

Emily Diaz Vallejo is a PhD student in Geography at UW-Madison.

Dorothy Lsoto is a PhD student in Environment and Resources at UW-Madison.

 

Collaborators:

 

The NSF INCLUDES Alliance: The National Alliance for Inclusive and Diverse STEM Faculty (ASPIRE) engages >100 colleges and universities in institutional, regional and national initiatives, including a leadership academy for recruiting diverse STEM faculty into institutional leadership, cohorts of institutions across the country working on data-driven self-assessments and change initiatives, partnerships with 2- and 4-year schools to diversify faculty to better represent student bodies, and inclusive professional development and workplace climate interventions.

The NSF INCLUDES Alliance: Inclusive Graduate Education Network (IGEN) is a partnership of >30 societies, institutions, organizations, corporations, national laboratories and scholars in graduate education and research mentorship, with the mission to raise PhD degree attainment rates of Black, Latinx and Indigenous students in the physical sciences. IGEN society partners (American Astronomical Society, American Chemical Society, American Geophysical Union, American Physical Society and Materials Research Society) are uniquely positioned to lead efforts that empower faculty to reform and improve graduate education practices.

The NSF-funded NRT CONDESA: Convergence of Nano-engineered Devices for Environmental and Sustainability Applications aims to create a new generation of engineers by cross-training students in molecular biology, physics, chemistry, environmental science and sustainable systems. The program anticipates training 200 Ph.D. students, including 25 funded trainees in physics, chemistry, mechanical engineering, environmental science and materials science and engineering.

The Boosting Representation of African Americans in the Geosciences (BRAAG) program is a pathways grant for student recruitment into research and preparation for graduate admission of the University of California in collaboration with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) partners from Kentucky State University, Tennessee State University and Howard University. Providing faculty research mentors with strategies to transform workplace climates is critical for ensuring student retention and building accountability into academic departments.

Richard Primack is Professor of Biology at Boston University. He is the author of two textbooks in conservation biology, the former Editor in Chief of the journal Biological Conservation and former President of the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation. He is an author of a series of articles published in BioScience on improvements over time in the challenges faced by women ecologists.

Pamela Templer is Professor of Biology at Boston University and Vice President of Education and Human Affairs at the Ecological Society of America (elected position 2018-2021) and Co-Chair of the Scientific Coordinating Committee for Hubbard Brook, a LTER site.

Aara'L Yarber was a Ph.D. student in meteorology at Penn State and the 2017 UCAR Next Generation Diversity & Inclusion Fellow.

Anita Marshall is an instructor at the University of South Florida where she received her PhD in Geoscience Education. She serves on the board of the non-profit International Association for Geoscience Diversity (theIAGD.org), where she collaborates on the design and execution of accessible field trips and serves as a mentor and advocate for geoscience students with disabilities.

Anne Kelly is Director of the Yosemite Field Station, the U.C. Merced Natural Reserve System.

Dave Mogk is a leading expert in developing teaching material for geoethics, the responsible conduct of research and professionalism.

The National Association for Geoscience Teachers (NAGT) educational review team will advise on web-based module and review content for incorporation into Teach the Earth and NAGT's leader training program.

 

Current Advisory Board:

 

Estella Atekwana, Dean for Letters and Science at the University of California, Davis, is a Fellow of the Geological Society of America, with leadership experience at multiple academic institutions across the country. Dr. Atekwana is an award-winning geoscientist and one of the founders of the field of biogeophysics. She also serves on the Advisory Committee of AGU's LANDInG Academy.

Ramon Barthelemy, Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy at The University of Utah, is a former U.S. Department of Education AAAS Science Policy Fellow and private sector consultant for equity and inclusion in science. Dr. Barthelemy's research includes studying the experiences of women in graduate physics and astronomy, LGBT persistence in the field of physics, and the motivations of students to pursue physics.

Asmeret Asefaw Berhe is Professor of Soil Biogeochemistry and Falasco Chair in Earth Sciences at the Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of California, Merced. She is a NSF CAREER awardee, past PI and co-PI of NSF grants that supported participation of women and underrepresented minorities in research and outreach. She has received the Geological Society of America's Bromery Award and is a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union.

Christopher Gentry is Professor of Geography and Interim Director of the Center of Excellence for Field Biology at Austin Peay State University. He is part of the first cohort of ADVANCEGeo trainers and will facilitate coordination with the training team and identifying new trainers.

Mary Anne Holmes, Prof. of Practice (emeritus), Dept. of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Univ. of Nebraska-Lincoln, led UNL's ADVANCE program, and was past NSF ADVANCE program director. She co-authored some of the first studies on gender equity in the geosciences, including the book Women in the Geosciences: Practical, Positive Practices Toward Parity (2015).

Roman de Jesus is Professor of Oceanography and Earth Sciences at Fullerton College. He represents the Natural Sciences division and is Distance Education Division Representative. Prof. de Jesus contributed to the FC Anti-Racism Task Forces, Campus Climate Survey Inquiry Group, and FC California Community College Equity Leadership Alliance.

Anne Kelly is Deputy Director, The Nature Conservancy Alaska. Before that she was Director of Research and Education, Desert Studies Center at California State University, Fullerton and Director of UC Merced's Yosemite and Sequoia Field Stations. Dr. Kelly is co-PI of a NSF-funded workshop on Safety in Field and Ocean Sciences and part of the first cohort of ADVANCEGeo trainers.

Anne-Marie Núñez is Professor of Educational Studies, Higher Education and Student Affairs at The Ohio State University. Her research addresses transforming postsecondary opportunity structures for historically marginalized communities and building inclusive and equitable environments in STEM disciplines, including geosciences and computing.

Christine Williams, Professor of Sociology at the Univ. of Texas at Austin, is an expert on gender, race, and class inequality in the workplace and was recently President of the American Sociological Association. Williams conducted one of the first studies of sexual harassment in the geosciences and published a 2021 book on gender inequities in the oil and gas industry.

 

Former Advisory Board:

 

Carolyn Brinkworth is Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer, Univ. Corporation for Atmospheric Research. She holds a PhD in Astrophysics and a MA in Education. Brinkworth is the recipient of 4 NSF grants to increase diversity in the geosciences and helped organize the Inclusive Astronomy 2015 meeting that developed groundbreaking recommendations for increasing diversity, equity and inclusion.

Mary Anne Holmes, Prof. of Practice (emeritus), Dept. of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Univ. of Nebraska-Lincoln, led UNL's ADVANCE program, and was past NSF ADVANCE program director and coauthor of Women in the Geosciences: Practical, Positive Practices Toward Parity(2015). Holmes is Co-PI on the ICER award funding the SH workshop and serves on AGU's Ethics Task Force.

Lauren Hasselbacher, Campus Title IX Coordinator at UW-Madison. Hasselbacher worked as a senior investigator at the University of Colorado Boulder, where she investigated allegations of discrimination, harassment and sexual misconduct and also worked as a legal advocate for domestic abuse victims.

David Mogk, former Dept. Head of Earth Sciences, Montana State Univ, was co-PI of the NSF-funded Interdisciplinary Teaching of Geoscience for a Sustainable Future Center in the Geosciences and the On the Cutting Edge Faculty Development Program. Mogk is a leading expert in developing ethics teaching material in the geosciences and currently serves on AGU's Ethics Task Force.

Luis Piñero is Assistant Vice Provost for Workforce Equity and Diversity and Title IX Coordinator at UW-Madison. Piñero has developed curricula on AA/EEO/Diversity for administrators and faculty and contributed expertise to: e.g., Committee on Minority Faculty and Academic Staff; Committee on Women in the University; Sexual Harassment Policy Committee.

Jennifer Sheridan is Executive and Research Director of WISELI, a nationally-recognized research center at UW-Madison for educating faculty about implicit bias in academia and holds a Ph.D. in sociology. Sheridan has led STEM faculty work climate surveys at UW-Madison and overseen a team designing and delivering >100 faculty workshops at UW and >40 campuses or groups of campuses.

Lisa White is Assistant Director of Education and Public Programs at the Univ. of California Museum of Paleontology. Formerly, she was Prof. of Geosciences and Associate Dean of the College of Science and Engineering at San Francisco State Univ. White coordinated the U.S. Geological Survey Minority Participation in the Earth Sciences Program and chaired the Geological Society of America Committee on Minorities and Women.

Christine Williams, Professor of Sociology and the Elsie and Stanley E. (Skinny) Adams, Sr. Centennial Professor in Liberal Arts, Univ. of Texas at Austin, is an expert on gender, race, and class inequality in the workplace. Williams conducted one of the first studies of SH in the geoscience workforce. She was a panelist in AGU's 2015 Town Hall and the September 2016 AGU SH workshop.

Kathrin Zippel, Professor of Sociology, Northeastern Univ., is an expert on gender politics and author of The Politics of Sexual Harassment: A Comparative Study of the United States, the European Union and Germany (Cambridge University Press, 2006). Zippel was co-PI of Northeastern's NSF ADVANCE Institutional Transformation award.