• What are some of your interests and goals?
• I like to travel and “experience” places on Earth which still remain relatively untouched by humans (especially the arctic and tropical regions). Most of my travels have also included birding. In 2000 I went on a backpacking trip to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to see the Gray-headed Chickadee (thanking no oil wells, yet!!!!). We also took a boat to the Baby Islands (off of Dutch Harbor in the Aleutians) to see Whiskered Auklets (with the auklet I have now seen all the breeding birds in North America). I have a goal in my lifetime of visiting 100 countries and seeing half the world’s bird species (4500+).
• Where do you live?
• I live in Gastonia, North Carolina, which is located in the biologically boring Piedmont region of NC just west of Charlotte.
• Where did you grow up?
• I grew up in the farm town of Saline, Michigan, which is just south of Ann Arbor.
• Where did you go to school?
• I have a B.S. degree in Biology from Central Michigan University, M.S. degree in Biology from Bowling Green State University, and a B.A.S. in Life Science Education from the University of Minnesota-Duluth.
• What is it like where you teach?
• I teach in a 1600 student urban school in Charlotte. Our population is 65% minority with a growing Asian student body. Teaching at my high school presents “many” daily challenges to students, administrators, and teachers.
• How long have you taught there and how long have you been teaching?
• I have taught at West Mecklenburg High School for my entire teaching career of 12 years.
• Have you worked outside of teaching or done any programs or internships in addition to teaching?
• I went to college to be a Phycologist (the study of algae) and I did that for 11 years. My first job out of graduate school was as an aquatic biologist with the Kentucky Nature Preserves Commission in Frankfort, KY. I then worked as an acid rain biologist for the University of Minnesota-Duluth. In that job we used fossil diatoms to reconstruct the acidification of lakes in Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Last year I finally completed a book (after 10 years, with Dr. Don Charles), entitled, “Diatoms of Low-Alkalinity Lakes in the Northeastern United States” which was published by the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. In that book we described 13 new species of diatoms included one we named in honor of Tina Turner (Pinnularia turnerae Camburn & Charles).
• Do you have any hobbies and favorite activities?
• Favorite hobbies and activities would include birding, travel, and historic homes. I have also for the past 30 years served as the genealogist for the Camburn family in the United States.
• Have you experienced any awesome teaching moments that you would like to bring up?
• My favorite moment each year occurs when I take my students to Crystal River, Florida, to snorkel with the manatees and I see the looks on their faces after they see their first manatee.
• What makes you a great teacher?
• I am just so into environmental science and biology that my students just can help but get excited and learn in my classroom.
• Why have you signed up for this institute?
• I signed up for this institute to gain a knowledge base on the ecological/biological functioning of tropical forests.

Mother of three and keeper of pets. That's how people see me. I have a daughter in Turkey. My middle son starts college in Minnesota this fall and the baby is a freshman at the school I teach. We have more aquariums than furniture in the living room. We love reptiles and amphibians the most, but we have the dog and cats too. I'm known as Mamma Noah at school. I been married to my husband, Norman, for 30 years. I was an Army brat so I wasn't really from anywhere. I was born at Ft. Knox , KY. Born ND oldest in a family of 10 makes me very adapted to large groups.

At present, I live in Clarksville Tennessee where I went to Austin Peay State University and got a BS in Biology and a Masters in Education twenty years apart. I teach at Clarksville High School , my old alma mater. It's enrollment is about 1500 in an urban setting. I teach Earth Science and Life Science there. For 6 years this has been my home away from home. Before that I taught 3 years in a lock up facility for the state and 5 years as a substitute in elementary.

My life outside the classroom deal with summers as a TEAMS member. We usually go to a coastal area for a week or so and research the habitat. Last year we went to Biloxi. I also monitor a stream 4 times a year as part of Red River Water Watch. After I attend the GLOBE's training this summer , I hope to teach my students the monitoring skills as well. I am a sponsor for the environmental club at school and the team coach for Envirothon and the Science Bowl in Tennessee. My son's keep me busy as well in chaperoning ROTC and cross county events. Currently our science department is working on alignment of curriculum with Gateway standards for student to pass the test to get a diploma. I am hoping this institute will help me with bringing back critical thinking skills they need to achieve success. I am also working with Project WET to catalogue all the springs in Tennessee.

Work Information

Job Title/Department

• Teacher

Ms. Ellis received her BS with a major in biology and minors in chemistry and general science from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia; Master of Science with amajor in biology ( emphasis in plant taxonomy ) from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia; and Administrators Certification from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona. She has taught science for 26 years focusing on biology and environmental sciences. She also worked for the Department of Agriculture in Pennsylvania as a seed analysts and assistant botanist. Served as science department chair at two schools in two different states. Has received numerous awards including the YMCA Service to Youth Award from Virginia, the Teacher of the Year award from the Soil and Water conservation District on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, Honorable Mention Teacher of the Year for the State of Arizona from the National Biology Teachers Association, the Teacher Recognition Award from the Salt River Project for the development and instruction of a curriculum dealing with water and energy resources, and the Fulbrighy Memorial Fellowship Award to study schools in Japan. She is the senior author of "Influence of Metolachlor on Sweet Corn (Zea mays saccharata) Growth and Nutrient Accumulation": Weed Science 1983 vol. 31:342-347

Ms. Ellis wrote the environmental science curriculum and its standardized criteria reference test for her present district. She also helped write the award winning, hands-on, interdisciplinary program "Project Aquatic". She is a facilitator for "Project Aquatic", "Project Wild", and "Projet Learning Tree".

At present, she is residing in Phoenix, Arizona but has a home on the Eastern Shore of Virginia where she plans to retire. She is widowed with two adult sons. One of her sons is living in Norfolk, Virginia and her other son is living with his wife and infant daughter in Warrenton, Virginia .

Work Information

Job Title/Department

• Biology Teacher at Maryvale High School

I like teaching. I left the family tire business because I always wanted to teach high school biology. I really enjoy knowing a little bit about how different organisms survive and their strategies for existence. I feel very fortunate to live in a time when many of the basic questions of life are being discovered. I feel very fortunate in being able to travel to different places and see such a wide variety of life. The most powerful kings throughout history wouldn’t even be able to dream about the wonders that we take as common place in the 21st century. I live on a couple of acres 15 miles southeast of Portland and drive into down to teach at Franklin High School. I have a garden, a creek in a deep gully forested with native northwestern plants and mature cedars, and lots and lots of flowers. There are peacocks roaming the neighborhood, a horse pasture out front, a llama ranch next door, and 160 acres of undeveloped forest behind me. I live with my wife of 30 years, Sandy, and a 21-year-old daughter who goes to college. My eldest son Travis, visits 3 times a week and brings the two granddaughters over to visit and play. My youngest daughter Tracy visits several times a week too. I grew up in Orange County, California and taught there for 7 years before retiring to a log cabin in Montana for a year when I was 30. I was Mark McGwire’s 1st coach too. I left teaching for a few years, painting at the Claremont Colleges in Pomona, before becoming a pharmaceutical representative. I missed the classroom and began teaching at Franklin High School in 1983, where I have been since. Franklin has a mixed student population, 5 % African-American, 15% Asian, 10% Russian and Ukrainian, 10% Hispanic, and the rest White. Kids have parents and grandparents who went to Franklin. It is like a legacy school. I went to Cal State Fullerton where I obtained a BA and an MA. My master’s thesis was on the geographical variation of the kangaroo mouse, genus Microdipodops, and I named a new species in 1979. I have traveled across the US collecting specimens and visiting museums to take measurements. I have been to over 50 Universities at some time in my life. I have traveled the back roads of the Great Basin collecting specimens. My job in college was to boil the bones down and mount skeletons. I use to be quite active as a mammalogist. Now I am more of a generalist. I am active in State and District science functions and a member of the Oregon Geographical Alliance. In 1997 we went to Nepal for a month and lived with the Sherpas. I am active with Biotechnology as well and worked with Portland State University over the last year to help teachers throughout the state obtain and use biotechnologies. I am also active in the teaching of evolution, having worked with the Evolution and the Nature of Science folks, and serve as a consultant to help teachers in the Portland School District to feel comfortable in teaching evolution. The best moments in teaching are watching the kids as they learn. I love to watch kids of all ages learn. I signed up for the institute because I have heard so much about the rain forests of Central America and want to hear the chorus of frogs at night. I also dearly want to see monkeys swinging in the trees.

Work Information

Job Title/Department

• Biology teacher, Science Department Chair, Science Department, Franklin H.S.

My name is Jenelle Hopkins and I am an Earth and Environmental Science teacher in Las Vegas, Nevada. I have lived in Nevada since 1963, going to school in Reno and graduating from the Mackay School of Mines at the University of Nevada, Reno with a B.S. degree in Geology. After graduation I worked in the mining industry as both a field exploration geologist and an underground mining geologist. When the tungsten mining industry in Nevada closed, I became a stay at home mom, raising three sons. My husband got a job at the Nevada Test Site and the family eventually moved to Las Vegas. When the last of the boys entered school, I started to work as a substitute teacher for the Clark County School District. During the early 1990's the school district was experiencing tremendous growth and desperately needed qualified science teachers. I went back to school at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and earned a Professional Development Degree in Secondary Science Education and became a licensed Physical Sciences teacher. I have been teaching with the Clark County School District for eight years. My current teaching assignments are Environmental Science and Earth Science. I am very active in course development for the school district. I have revised course curriculum for Principles of Science, Earth Science and Environmental Science. I have also been involved in many teacher in-services and workshops. I have been engaged at the state level, writing test questions for the newly instituted Science Proficiency Exam - a test that all Nevada high school students must pass before they receive their high school diploma. I am also involved in the state and local professional organizations and I am currently President of the Southern Nevada Science Teachers Association. I recently became a member of the Nevada Earthquake Safety Council. I look forward to working with this group to help students understand earthquakes, especially since Nevada is the third most tectonically active state. I have been teaching at Centennial High School for two years, since the school opened. I practically begged the principal to hire me so that I could run a biomonitoring program with the Environmental Science students. I envisioned this project since I first saw the ground being leveled for the school. And I am having great fun trying to teach the students about the beauty of the desert ecosystem. I love teaching both Earth and Environmental Science, and would be hard pressed to choose one over the other. I hope to bring to the Institute my enthusiasm and unquenchable thirst for knowledge. I have never been out of the country and definitely have never been to a rainforest environment. I plan to look for ways to compare and contrast the desert and rainforest ecosystems, and incorporate this information into my science classes. I am currently working on a Masters Degree in Environmental Geology. I have made some great professional contacts and they have been gracious enough to become involved in outreach programs with my High School students. I will be working this summer (before and after the institute) at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in the Environmental Engineering Department, learning how to use geophysics to interpret soil profiles. I plan to create an educational module from the data that I will be collecting in the field. I signed up for this Institute because I saw it as an opportunity to expand on the field research techniques that I learned last summer while participating in the Brandwein Summer Leadership Institute in the Poconos. I had so much fun working with those teachers from around the country that I hope to duplicate the experience with everyone I will be meeting in Costa Rica. It is great to share teaching techniques with people from different areas of the country. I learn so much about what is happening in other places, and I bring those good ideas back to my school district in the hopes of strengthening our learning strategies. My family and I love to hike and collect rock, minerals and fossil specimens. Lucky thing I have a classroom where I can store all of our finds. A retirement dream for my husband and myself is to move to a small town in Nevada and open up a Rock Shop. I don't think the shop will be very profitable, however, because we plan to spend most of our time out collecting items for the shop.

Work Information

Job Title/Department

• High School Teacher/Science Department

I am interested in visiting the rainforest, but I wouldn't want to live there. I have lived in New Mexico, Alaska, and have been to the rainforest near Iquitos, Peru, a park in Puerto Rico and in Belize. Would you care to share about your family? Where do you live? Where did you grow up? Where did you go to school? I am married with no children, have lived in New Orleans since 1967 minus three Army years. I grew up in rural SC, went to Manning High, College of Charleston '67, and got the MS'68/PHD in '77 at Tulane in New Orleans. What is it like where you teach? How long have you taught there and how long have you been teaching? I have been at St. Martin's Episcopal School for 11 years, nine years before that at an all girls school. 20 years total. Both schools are private and 100% college bound. STM is coed and the students I teach mostly drive their own SUV's to school after ninth grade. Supportive administration and parents, equipment and grants for the lab are easy to obtain, tuition is about $10,000. I have done four years of research at LSUMC on the mutagenic properties of New Orleans tap water. Summer jobs include teaching marine science to teachers in Alabama, growing placental vein punches, DNA electrophoresis, designing PowerPoint presentations for an experimental farm at LSU Lafayette. Some of my favorite activities include Sea kayaking in calm water, barrier island camping, hiking. Teaching kids to canoe and camp. I am a strong teacher because my students know that I care if they learn. I have signed up for this institute because I need to revamp the labs and include more inquiry, less show and tell.

Work Information

Job Title/Department

• Science Instructor/ Science

I am 46 years old, a mother of two, have been married (to the same man) for 23+ years, live on 20 acres in the 100 year flood plains of beautiful Skagit Valley. We have a gorgeous view of a sleeping volcano called Mt. Baker. Our home is a 1917 farmhouse that we have been renovating since 1983. We have numerous pets & animals. I am an extremely grateful, lucky & happy individual.

I love to explore, learn & teach! I am getting vaccinated for everything because I will inevitably be fanny up and nose down in the dirt under some enormous, mosquito-infested leaf or up to my elbows in swamp water teaming with protista & bacteria. I have dreamed of harnessing up and dangling hundreds of feet above the ground to investigate the hidden niches of the rain forest canopy. I can’t wait to see the invertebrates, birds, reptiles, fish, amphibians and mammals. I am fascinated with geology, botany, biology and of course ecology. The sounds, the smells….so many new experiences on the horizon! And new friends to add to my favorite collection.

Work Information

Job Title/Department

• Science and Biology Teacher

I grew up an Army brat, but have lived in Washington DC since college and in my Capitol Hill neighborhood for the last 32 years. I have 3 children; two sons who live in Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington and a daughter who lives in Baltimore, Maryland. Like their parents, my children seem to prefer an urban environment! I taught in private high schools for 13 years and then switched to the DC public school system where I have been teaching at the same junior high for 13 years. Although the teaching is much more challenging (and exhausting), the students are interesting , exasperating and funny. They have made me a much better teacher. My school has a long history of academic stringency and discipline. Students come to this school from all over the city and all students, regardless of elementary school experiences, are expected to perform to high standards. I am given a great deal of freedom in my classroom and because our school is only a few blocks from the Mall and 2 blocks from a Metro station (subway) we try to take advantage of our DC location. The Smithsonian Institute is a ten-minute walk away. I generally have a museum education graduate student in my classroom in the fall as an intern and we spend a lot of that time on field trips. I have spent the last 10 years taking courses in molecular biology. I was a Woodrow Wilson fellow in the summer of 1994 in genetics and I worked for two summers at the NIH in the Lab for Chemical Biology. I spent a great deal of time one year working on a biotechnology curriculum for DCPS with the Discovery Center at Catholic University. Despite my interest in molecular biology, I experienced a sea change in my approach to general biology one summer at the NIH. I was trying to isolate a particular DNA sequence from an unidentified cell line and no one in the lab could identify the organism the cells were once a part of! It was immaterial to the process! And at that point I thought "hmmm". It is the organism that captures interest of students. It is the organism that captures my interest! I changed the direction of my teaching to incorporate whole organisms and "long-term" research. I have been trying to put together an urban ecology emphasis in my 9th grade biology classes. I applied to the Costa Rica program because my experience as a Woodie in the summer of '94 was so superb. I made friends that summer who have become friends for life. The teachers were some of the best I have seen and one, Don Cronkite, is I think, the finest teacher I have ever learned from! I would like to develop an urban ecology program in DC that will allow students to be involved in long-term research on the Anacostia River. I read a great deal, I have spent time paddling on a dragon boat team and I live in a somewhat unconventional home with 4 dogs

Work Information

Job Title/Department

• Teacher, Science Department

I live in Las Vegas, Nevada and I love it here. I moved here from Arkansas where I lived for 17 years. I was born in San Bernardino, California and grew up in Riverside, California and Oklahoma. So I have experienced both city and country living. I have two daughters, Bonnie (27) and Shannon (25). Bonnie lives in Las Vegas and Shannon lives in Oklahoma. I live with the love of my life, Norman. He is Irish and has been an entertainer here in Vegas for 30 years. My interests are widely varied from photography to boating. My goal in life is just to enjoy it and have fun. Norman and I travel quite a bit in or motor home and go to Lake Mead weekly on the boat. I came to Las Vegas 3 years ago and I love teaching in the school I am in. I have a wonderful boss and great co-workers. I like the variety of students here. When I taught in Arkansas the ethnic variety was very limited. I became a teacher 10 years ago, I am 45, it took awhile to figure out what I wanted to be when I grew up. Since I haven't grown up yet, I figured I might as well get a career going. I love teaching and that is what makes me a great teacher as my enthusiasm shows. I signed up for this institute becausse it is the chance of a lifetime for me to see Costa Rica. I have only been out of the United States twice in my life.

Work Information

Job Title/Department

• Science Teacher

I was born in and raised in Stanford California. My backyard and the surrounding areas was where my interests in science, specifically wildlife, were developed. This latter interest lay dormant through my higher education as I studied chemistry and geology. My love of wildlife did rekindle and recently I have switched my research pursuits back to my childhood passion of wildlife biology. These early interests also unknowingly laid the social context regarding concerns for wildlife declines and extinction developed later in my life, Namely, the California redlegged frog haves been eliminated from my childhood haunts (a favorite anima of mine). This has brought home how we are damaging our environment. It saddens me (and motivates me) to think of these losses. It is this, coupled with a love of teaching that drew me to this institute. I hope, as a teacher, I can heighten the next generation’s awareness of the value of our natural world.

Work Information

Job Title/Department

• Science Department Chair

Hello! I grew up in Massachusetts, went to school at McGill University (in Montreal), worked in a genetics lab and then went in to the Peace Corps for 2 years in Samoa, a small island in the South Pacific. After travelling around on the way home, I stopped in Idaho for a while to work with the Forest Service and then started teaching. I’ve become a wimp (temperature wise) and kept moving South ( Washington DC, got M. Ed. ) and now I’m teaching in Raleigh, NC. Thanks to Summer adventures I am still an enthusiastic teacher and life long learner. I also enjoy running, playing tennis, hiking, travelling, biking, diving, surfing, etc. Basically, I’m trying to squeeze as much as I can out of life - live it to the fullest. That’s why I’m excited about spending a month in CR with you guys! I love adventure!

Work Information

Job Title/Department

• Science Teacher

I grew up in Anaheim, CA and Tucson, AZ where I worked delivering newspapers during elementary school and worked, and eventually managed, a pet store while attending Junior High, High School and the University of AZ. I moved to Greensboro, NC where I finished my BS in Science Education. I am currently in graduate school at NC State majoring in Science Education. I have taught science K-12 for several years and now enjoy educating citizens about the importance of water resources. I am fanatical about salamanders at the present time, having gone through other episodes with: lizards, turtles, snakes and tree frogs, pretty much in that order, starting when I was old enough to catch my first lizard at the age of 5. Some of my favorite teaching moments has been getting students to overcome their fears. I helped a women learn to SCUBA dive who was scared of "falling" while floating on top of the water and especially like educating people about snakes, and why we should not fear them but protect them. I signed up for this institute because it has been a lifelong dream to visit Costa Rica and experience its rich and diverse herpetofauna.

Work Information

Job Title/Department

• Stream Watch/Project WET Coordinator - North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources/Division of Water Resources

Courses/Levels taught--Key responsibilities

• I oversee the NC Stream Watch Program and am the NC State Coordinator for the Project WET (Water Education for Teachers) Program.

Clubs and Extra-Curricular activities

I am currently chair of the education committee for the North Carolina Herpetological Society, and a member of NSTA, NCSTA, NCSLA and EENC.

Current Projects

I spend my "spare" time researching herpetological journals and participating in field studies related to herps while writing science activities for grades 8-12. My current study involves a 1200-ft drift fence surrounding a vernal pond where I am determining the amphibian diversity and the breeding success of Tiger Salamanders, Ambystoma tigrinum. This is the last known breeding site for A. tigrinum in Wake County, North Carolina.

Program Information

•   Stream Watch - all citizens/all ages, statewide
•   Project WET - K-12 teachers and informal science educators
• 250 Stream Watch groups and a network of 30 NC Project WET Facilitators

Contact Information

E-mail address
david.wojnowski@ncmail.net

Office phone/voice mail
919-733-4064

Favorite Links

• http://www.ncwater.org/wrps/swhome.htm
• http://www.ncwater.org/wrps/wethome.htm
• http://www.projectbogturtle.org/
• http://www.parcplace.org/
• http://www.science-house.org/

I live near Waimea Bay on the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii. Waimea is also the name of one of the most famous surfing breaks in the world. My community is made up of surfers who have migrated here because of the amazing 20-25 foot winter waves and those associated with the surfing industry.

I first saw the ocean at 20 upon leaving my home state of Wisconsin. Since then I have not lived too far from the sound of waves. After earning a chemistry degree from The Evergreen State College, Olympia, Washington, I entered the Peace Corps and taught school in Ghana, West Africa. This experience stimulated me to study Aquaculture at the University of Washington, Seattle, and to move to Hawaii. After working on a struggling oyster farm as well as a struggling shrimp farm, I changed careers fifteen years ago. I received funding in becoming a teacher through a state program that was designed to address the science teacher shortage in Hawaii. Interspersed with the enjoyment of teaching chemistry to young adults, I have had many wonderful opportunities. I have been to Greenland studying arctic char as part of the Teachers Experiencing the Arctic Program and traveled to Japan as part of the Fullbright Teacher Program which immersed us in their educational system and culture.

My passions are my two sons, aged 22 and 20, life drawing, music, and dance. I have taken lessons in all these areas, except for parenting. I am now learning Tango, but have also danced swing, salsa, and performed modern dance as part of dance concert at Brigham Young University-Hawaii. My goals are to continue learning, perfecting my skills, and to explore the many different places and cultures are the planet.

I am looking forward to the rich sensory experience of being in Costa Rica and hope to bring home to my students as many of these sensations as possible. It will be interesting to learn if there are connections between the ecosystems of Hawaii and Costa Rica.

Work Information

Job Title/Department

• Chemistry Teacher/ Science