Appendix B

Committee Members’ Biographies

MARGARET HONEY (Chair, she/her/hers) is the chief executive officer and president at the Scratch Foundation. Prior to joining the foundation, she led the New York Hall of Science (NYSCI) for 15 years, where she leveraged the museum as a platform for innovation in STEM education and developed NYSCI’s distinctive Design-Make-Play approach to STEM learning. That hands-on approach to STEM learning and engagement was infused into everything from Design Lab, one of the largest design and engineering spaces in the nation; to the long-running World Maker Faire that NYSCI hosted, to the Playground Physics app and curriculum; to Connected Worlds, one of the first and largest digitally immersive exhibits in the world. Under Honey’s leadership, NYSCI also formed a deep and lasting partnership with families, educators, and other non-profits in the Corona and East Elmhurst communities of Queens, building a science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics-themed preschool on the NYSCI campus that brings high-quality STEM learning to more than 300 3- and 4-year-olds each year. In addition to her tenure at NYSCI, she also served as a vice president of the Education Development Center (EDC) and director of EDC’s Center for Children and Technology. While at EDC, Honey was the architect and overseer of numerous large-scale projects funded by organizations including the National Science Foundation, the Institute of Education Sciences, the Carnegie Corporation, the Library of Congress, the U.S. Department of Education, and the U.S. Department of Energy. She co-directed the Northeast and Islands Regional Education Laboratory, a $40 million federally funded initiative designed to help educators, policy makers, and communities improve schools by helping them access and leverage

the most current research about learning and K–12 education. Honey has shared what she’s learned before Congress, state legislatures, and federal panels, and through numerous articles, chapters, and books. She is a member of the National Academy of Education and serves on the boards of Bank Street College of Education, Post University, and Sphero. Honey received her Ph.D. in developmental psychology from Columbia University. She has chaired multiple National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine consensus studies, working closely with the Board on Science Education.

WENDY GRAM (Vice Chair, she/her/hers) has worked at the interface of science and education for over 30 years. She is the deputy director of COMET, a University Corporation for Atmospheric Research program. COMET develops education and training products for weather, water, and climate sciences, and provides them freely on the MetEd learning portal. Prior to joining COMET, Gram was the lead for science engagement and education for the National Science Foundation-funded National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) for 10 years. At NEON, she led development, implementation, and evaluation of education and engagement programs and tools to enable the scientific community to effectively discover, access, and use NEON data. Before this placement, Gram was head of education at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History at the University of Oklahoma. There, she was a member of the senior leadership team for the museum and led programs that integrated science with educational programming, such as innovative teacher professional development workshops, field courses, K–12 classes, and exhibit development. Gram holds a B.A. in biology from the University of Pennsylvania and a Ph.D. in ecology and evolution from the University of Missouri. She was a member of the 2019 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s Committee to Assess Science Activation.

FLÁVIO S. AZEVEDO (he/him/his) is associate professor in STEM education, Department of Curriculum and Instruction in the College of Education, at the University of Texas at Austin; and co-director of the UTeach Natural Sciences teacher education program at the same institution. His research focuses on the nature of interest-driven participation in STEM practices, STEM learning in and out of schools, and liberatory pedagogies. Broadly, to speak of people’s interests is to consider the multitudinous ways in which diverse individuals engage and appropriate any given practice, so that pedagogies for interest development can be powerful pedagogies for democratic participation. Azevedo investigates interest-driven participation and learning across timescales and settings of STEM practice (hobbies, after-school programs, classrooms, museums, and the home), as well as the sociocultural

and political contexts of such practices, so as to broaden and deepen participation in STEM and to intervene on mechanisms that (re)produce inequities across educational spaces. He is a Spencer Foundation fellow and a member of the International Society of the Learning Sciences and the American Educational Research Association, among others. Azevedo holds a B.S. in electrical engineering, an M.S. in computer science, and a Ph.D. in science and mathematics education.

PAULA BONTEMPI (she/her/hers) is dean of the Graduate School of Oceanography at the University of Rhode Island. Prior to her current position, she served as acting deputy director at NASA’s Earth Science Division in the Science Mission Directorate of NASA Headquarters, and spent more than 16 years as the physical scientist and program manager for ocean biology and biogeochemistry at NASA Headquarters. Bontempi provided leadership, strategic direction, and overall management for the agency’s Earth science portfolio, from technology development, applied science, and research to mission implementation and operations. Her scientific interests include Earth and ocean remote sensing, phytoplankton ecology, marine bio-optics, studying the Earth as a system, oceans across the solar system, the connection of ocean exploration to global economics, and the development of ocean sensors. Bontempi has a strong interest in mentorship and justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion initiatives in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. She currently serves as a member of the NASA Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon Independent Study Team and is a fellow of the Oceanography Society. Bontempi has a B.S. from Boston College, an M.S. from Texas A&M University, and a Ph.D. in oceanography from the University of Rhode Island.

ORLANDO FIGUEROA (he/him/his) is the founder of Orlando Leadership Enterprise, LLC. Prior to this position, he was a NASA senior executive with 45 years of experience in the management, planning, and development of scientific space programs, missions, and related technologies. Figueroa has experience at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and Headquarters including as deputy center director for science and technology, director for applied engineering and technology, deputy associate administrator for science programs, director of the solar system exploration, director for Mars exploration, and deputy chief engineer for systems engineering. He has been awarded the National Space Society Pioneer Award, Smithsonian Latino Center Legacy Award, Service to America Federal Employee of the Year Medal, NASA Presidential Rank Awards, Most Influential Hispanics in the Nation, Pioneer Award from the Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Awards Corporation, NASA Outstanding Leadership Medals, and the Community Stars Award from the Maryland Science Commission. Figueroa

has authored publications in the field of cryogenics, the SMEX missions, and the Mars Exploration Program. He received a B.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of Puerto Rico, an advanced studies degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Maryland, and an honorary doctorate degree in science from Dominican College.

ROGERS P. HALL (he/him/his) is Wachtmeister Family Professor of Education, Emeritus, at Vanderbilt University. With colleagues in the Space, Learning and Mobility Lab, he designs and studies learning environments that invite new ways to engage with STEM conceptual practices. These include studies of learning in ensemble and embodied activity (e.g., “walking scale geometry,” mathematical aspects of dance choreography), where mobility is both the means and content of what is learned (e.g., youth counter mapping to expand personal mobility), and by making and sharing “story lines” that bridge archival collections, classrooms, and city neighborhoods as a form of public history.

VICTOR R. LEE (he/him/his) is an associate professor in the Stanford Graduate School of Education. His research involves the study and design of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics learning experiences with an emphasis on supporting teaching and learning with data, artificial intelligence literacy, elementary computer science education, and science teaching and learning. Lee’s work has traversed formal and informal learning spaces including schools, libraries, homes, and afterschool programs. He is past recipient of a National Science Foundation CAREER Award, American Educational Research Association’s Jan Hawkins Award, and a National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship. Lee sits on the editorial boards of several leading education research journals and is past president and an elected fellow of the International Society of the Learning Sciences. He received a B.S. in cognitive science and mathematics from the University of California, San Diego, and a Ph.D. in learning sciences at Northwestern University. Lee was previously a member of the committee that produced the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s consensus report Cultivating Interest and Competencies in Computing: Authentic Experiences and Design Factors.

ALINA MARTINEZ (she/her/hers) is a former principal researcher at Mathematica and former director for Mathematica’s STEM research area. She has over 25 years of experience conducting studies of federal programs funded by NASA, National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Education, and National Institutes of Health. Martinez has directed and played a senior role in over two dozen studies, including evaluations of STEM education and training programs that extend from middle

school through early career, and evaluations of research programs that involve large-scale research center collaborations, interdisciplinary research, and international research experiences. Her work has also investigated programs to promote educational access and success of students. Prior to joining Mathematica, Martinez was a principal associate at Abt Associates. She began her career as a middle school science teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Martinez received a B.S. in biology from Cornell University; an M.A. in educational foundations from California State University, Los Angeles; as well as both an M.Ed. and Ed.D. in education policy from Harvard University.

RAJUL PANDYA (he/him/his) is professor of practice at Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College and executive director at Global Futures Education Lab at Arizona State University. Prior to these positions, he was vice president of community science at the American Geophysical Union. Pandya focused on how the sciences can be more participatory, how inclusivity contributes to innovation and relevance, and how the sciences can be allies in advancing justice. He has served or is serving on advisory boards for the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Public Lab, the Community and College Partners Program, the Citizen Science Association, the Anthropocene Alliance, the Denver Institute for Science and Policy, ISET International, and the science and research subcommittee for the City of Denver’s Sustainability Advisory Council. Pandya received a Ph.D. from University of Washington, which investigated how large thunderstorms grow and persist. He chaired the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s Committee on Designing Citizen Science to Support Science Learning and Enhancing Opportunities by Design.

DARRYL N. WILLIAMS (he/him/his) is the Franklin Institute’s senior vice president of science and education, overseesing core aspects of the mission at the heart of the Institute’s efforts to inspire a passion for learning about science and technology. He joined the Institute from Tufts University’s School of Engineering where he was dean of undergraduate education and director of Tufts Center for STEM Diversity. Prior to Tufts, Williams spent four years with the National Science Foundation as a rotating program director and managed a range of federal programs and research focused on engineering education, STEM teaching and learning, designing formal and informal learning environments, and workforce development. He earned his B.S. in chemical engineering from Hampton University and his M.S. and Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of Maryland, College Park. Williams is a current member of the Board on Science Education and a member of the NASA STEM Engagement Committee.