SERC Welcomes Kerry Vachta to the Evaluation Team

The Science Education Resource Center (SERC) at Carleton College proudly welcomes the newest member of the Evaluation Team: Dr. Kerry Vachta.

Dr. Kerry Vachta (she/her or they/them) joins SERC as a new Evaluation & Education Associate. Kerry has a PhD in forestry and Masters in ecological/community psychology - both from Michigan State University. She has facilitated participatory research and evaluation over the past thirty years. Her primary interests are environmental-, land-, health-, and food justice. She directed the Evaluation Research Unit at Wayne State University's Center for Urban Studies before serving for seven years as Principal Investigator and Project Director of the Detroit Child Health Incubator Research Project (CHIRP) - a $4.5million NIFA-funded campus-community participatory action research partnership with 7 Detroit community-based organizations working to improve child health and well being through a food justice lens.  After the CHIRP grant ended, Kerry relocated to Denver to join Spark Policy Institute as a Senior Researcher.  There she led teams conducting program and systems change evaluation of equity-centered, community-driven, statewide and national health initiatives and provided strategic thought partnership for clients in the philanthropic and non-profit sectors.  She looks forward to drawing on the lessons and skills as an evaluation and learning partner she developed through those experiences to support the vital efforts of SERCs partners in a time when the importance of effective science education is clearer than ever.  Along with her two dogs, Jasper and Oliver, Kerry plans to relocate to Minnesota, where she looks forward to new hiking and culinary adventures.  Kerry also hopes to connect with the urban farming and food systems communities in Minneapolis-St Paul.

 

About the Science Education Resource Center (SERC)

The Science Education Resource Center is a grant-funded office at Carleton College, founded to improve education in the Earth sciences and beyond. SERC's team of educators, researchers and technical specialists have worked with over 100 award-winning education projects across the STEM disciplines and allied fields. Engaging participants from over 1,000 institutions of higher education, as well as K-12 curriculum developers and teachers, SERC has created one of the world's largest collections of pedagogic resources.
https://serc.carleton.edu/index.html

About Carleton College

Founded in 1866, Carleton College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college of 2,000 students located in the historic river town of Northfield, Minnesota. Nationally recognized as the nation's top college for undergraduate teaching, Carleton is known for its academic rigor, intellectual curiosity, and sense of humor. Carleton offers 33 majors and 31 minors in the arts, humanities, natural sciences, mathematics and social sciences.
https://www.carleton.edu/about/