Project Personnel

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Principal Investigators

Heather Macdonald

Chancellor Professor, Geology Department, William & Mary

I am a professor in the Geology Department at William & Mary and am co-director of the Marine Science Minor Program. I teach a variety of courses including Reading the Earth (a freshman seminar), The Sedimentary Record, andCollege Science Teaching . I have worked on a variety of professional development programs, including SAGE 2YC, On the Cutting Edge, a professional development program for current and future geoscience faculty that was funded by the National Science Foundation Division of Undergraduate Education, and the Building Strong Geoscience Departments Program. I was Chair of the Geology Department for eight years. When I was Dean of Undergraduate Studies, Arts and Sciences, at William & Mary, I was the Chief Transfer Officer and also served on the State Committee on Transfer.

Eric Baer

Instructor, Geology, Highline College

I am an instructor at Highline College. I teach a wide variety of geoscience courses including Geologic Catastrophes and am a PI on the Math You Need When You Need It, a project to develop and test online quantitative support modules for introductory geoscience students. I have a particular interest in developing a community of community college faculty to exchange information and ideas about the wide variety of roles that we fill. To that end, I have been involved in several projects that support 2YC faculty attendance and participation at the national meetings of the Geological Society of America. I have a PhD in volcanology from the University of California Santa Barbara and a Bachelor's degree from Carleton College.

Jan Hodder

Senior Lecturer, Oregon Institute of Marine Biology, University of Oregon

I am a marine biologist at the University of Oregon's Institute of Marine Biology (OIMB). I have been involved in several national faculty professional development programs including the Faculty Institutes for Reforming Science Teaching and the Center for Ocean Science Education Excellence - Pacific Partnerships (COSEE-PP). The COSEE-PP project has concentrated on providing 2YC faculty with professional opportunities to work with ocean scientists and learn about current ocean science research that is useful for their teaching. We also developed a research internship program, Promoting Research Investigations in the Marine Environment "PRIME" that brought community college students to Pacific marine labs for a summer research experience. I oversee the marine biology major at the UO and teach a marine environmental issues course. I am a member of the education and diversity committee of the National Association of Marine Laboratories.

Norlene Emerson

Professor, Geography/Geology Department, University of Wisconsin-Richland

I am a professor in the Geography/Geology Department at the University of Wisconsin-Richland, a freshman/sophomore liberal arts institution. I teach a variety of introductory courses including Physical Geology, Historical Geology, Environmental Geology, Natural Disasters, and Evolution & the History of Life. My interests lie in geoscience education at community colleges, particularly in supporting the successful transfer of first-generation students from two-year to four-year colleges.

SERC Staff

Carol Ormand

Science Education and Research Associate, Science Education Resource Center, Carleton College

After earning my PhD in Structural Geology and teaching college for five years, I landed a job at SERC (the Science Education Resource Center). My work at SERC has several components, each of which supports SERC's overall mission: improving science education at the college and university level. These components are conducting research on learning in the undergraduate science classroom, developing curricular materials that incorporate what we know from research on learning, and faculty professional development. My role in the SAGE 2YC project is a natural fit for these interests. For this project, I will be involved in planning the annual workshops for faculty change agents, developing the project website, supporting change agent teams in planning their local workshop program and follow-on activities, and virtual professional development activities.

John McDaris

Geoscience Education Associate, Science Education Resource Center, Carleton College

As a member of the SERC team for over a decade, my work centers around the dual foci of developing website content related to issues in geoscience and geoscience education and in helping to develop and support faculty professional development opportunities. I have spent several years developing expertise in issues related to attracting and supporting students from underrepresented minorities in geoscience majors as well as issues facing two-year college faculty and their students. I have also spent time as an adjunct instructor at a community college so I have some first hand experience at the intersection of these themes. I helped develop many of the website materials for the original SAGE 2YC project related to Workforce Development and Supporting Student Success and will continue to help develop materials needed to support the faculty change agents during this second incarnation of the project. Prior to coming to SERC, I received a Masters Degree in Geophysics from the University of Minnesota and a Bachelors Degree in Physics from North Carolina State University.

Evaluation and Research Team

Debra Bragg

Edward William and Jane Marr Gutgsell Endowed Professor and founding director, Office of Community College Research and Leadership, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Debra D. Bragg is a Gutgsell endowed professor and the founding director of the Office of Community College Research and Leadership (OCCRL) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Bragg's research on the transition of youth and adults to college and employment is funded by the U.S. Department of Education, U.S. Department of Labor, state governments, and private foundations. She has been studying Applied Baccalaureate degrees since 2007 when she co-led a national study funded by the Lumina Foundation. In 2010, she received a 4-year grant to study Applied Baccalaureate degree programs for the National Science Foundation (NSF), Advanced Technology Education (ATE) program. Dr. Bragg holds a PhD in comprehensive vocational education from The Ohio State University with specialization in public policy analysis and evaluation. She is the recipient of the University of Illinois' College of Education career teaching, distinguished research, and "breakthrough" awards; and the senior scholar award from the Council for the Study of Community Colleges. She is the external evaluator for this project.

Pamela Eddy

Professor of Higher Education, School of Education, College of William and Mary

I am a professor of higher education in the Educational Policy, Planning, and Leadership Department of the School of Education at the College of William and Mary. I teach graduate courses in educational policy, organizational theory, higher education finance, comparative education, and community college administration. My research centers on community college leadership, teaching and learning, and organizational change. I am involved as the project researcher for the SAGE2YC. I am quite excited about learning from the faculty change agents what works, what doesn't, and how we scale change through communities of practice. Having worked at a rural community college as an administrator, I know how important it is to understand better how we can be more effective in learning outcomes and know that good teaching is at the heart of student success.

Yi Hao

I am a Ph.D. student in Educational Policy, Planning, and Leadership with a concentration in higher education administration at William & Mary. I work with Dr. Pamela Eddy as her research assistant to provide support to the Research and Evaluation team on the SAGE 2YC project. My research interests are centered on faculty development, adult learning, and graduate education through both quantitative and qualitative approaches.

Ellen Iverson

Director of Evaluation, Science Education Resource Center, Carleton College

My work includes the evaluation, educational research, and usability efforts that ground SERC projects in the reality of educator practice. I approach evaluation and assessment from a constructivist perspective and have expertise in both quantitative and qualitative methods. My research interests include faculty development influences on teaching practices, program interventions aimed at broadening access in STEM undergraduate education, and the role of institutional context in theories of change about faculty learning and student learning. I am the internal evaluator for this project.

Kristin O'Connell

Evaluation and Education Specialist, Science Education Resource Center, Carleton College

As an evaluator, I often draw on skills gained from my background as a geologist, such as systems thinking, quantitative reasoning, and data visualization. At SERC, I design and implement evaluation of educational projects, and conduct research related to the assessment of student learning. I have a particular interest in equity and broadening access of higher education to underrepresented students. I am working as an internal evaluator for the SAGE 2YC project.