UPLIFT Research & Teaching Faculty Mentors

I am a professor of biological sciences and science education at California State University, Los Angeles. I joined the faculty of Cal State L.A. in the summer of 2002, after eight years of teaching elementary/middle school general science and high school biology and chemistry in Los Angeles, CA. During this time, I also completed a Master of Science degree in Cell & Molecular Biology at California State University, Northridge. My research at CSUN involved taking a closer look at the role of cell membrane structures (i.e. amino acids) and cancer. Realizing the dual importance of science content and science pedagogy in being a more effective science educator, I continued with my graduate education at the University of Southern California where I received a Doctorate in Science Education. During my tenure at USC, I became interested in the Nature and History of Science (i.e. the processes and mechanisms involved in science) and as a result made it the focal point of my dissertation. My university teaching experience prior to CSULA included a position as an adjunct professor of science education at California State University, Long Beach. In May and June, 2007, I served as a Visiting Professor of Biology Education at the American University of Armenia in Yerevan, Armenia.

I have research and publication interests in animal behavior, the role of natural history collections in understanding evolution, evolution education, and the nature, philosophy and history of science. There is a critical need for effective evolution education. Our lab investigates some of the evidence that demonstrates that need and analyzes several aspects of the nature of science and how it can be illustrated during the course of evolution instruction, primarily at the high school and college level. Biological evolution is a critical component to understanding the biodiversity of life on earth. Teachers and students of science alike, address the topic of evolution as a series of facts which tend to focus greatly on definitions and descriptions about life on earth while missing the underlying nature of science (NOS) which was and is currently being used to explain how living things have evolved over time.