People
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Principal Investigators
Stephen B. Witzig, Ph.D. (Principal Investigator)
Associate Professor of STEM Education & Teacher Development and research associate at the Kaput Center for Research & Innovation in STEM Education (UMassD). Dr. Witzig teaches research methods courses for STEM Education doctoral students including qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods research approaches in addition to advising STEM Education doctoral dissertations. In addition, he teaches science methods and science content course for secondary science teachers in the Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program. He is a science educator who studies SSI-based instruction as well as the development of teachers’ specialized knowledge for teaching science (K-16). Specifically, he is interested in the sources of teachers’ content and pedagogical knowledge as well how experience shapes their knowledge. Rooted in this work, his research includes investigations on how teacher knowledge shapes student learning. In the area of teacher professional development, he was PI on a six-year NSF grant (TEACH! SouthCoast STEM) working with STEM teachers from high needs schools in the areas of STEM content knowledge, technology, and leadership. In addition, in terms of faculty professional development, he worked 4 years on the NSF Funded CUES project at the University of Missouri (Zhao, Witzig, Weaver, Adams, & Schmidt, 2012). His research is published in the International Journal of Science Education, Research in Science Education, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education, & Journal of College Science Teaching, among others.
Robert Gegear, Ph.D. (Co-PI)
Assistant Professor of Biology (UMassD). Dr. Gegear teaches upper-level animal behavior, conservation biology, and conservation behavior. His research focuses on the ecology, evolution, and conservation of plant pollinator systems, with particular emphasis on the role of pollinator sensory and cognitive systems in system diversification. He conducts highly integrative field, laboratory and theoretical studies on plant-pollinator systems using approaches and methodologies from a wide range of disciplines, including animal behavior, human psychology, molecular biology, community ecology, and computational biology. To advance his research and generate public outreach opportunities, he developed the Beecology Citizen Science Project, which aims to crowdsource the collection and dissemination of data on plant-pollinator interactions to accelerate the protection and restoration of habitat supporting species at risk of local extinction. His research is published in Nature, Science, Conservation Biology, Scientific Reports, and Proceedings B, among others.
Kathryn Kavanagh, Ph.D. (Co-PI)
Associate Professor of Biology (UMassD). Dr. Kavanagh teaches vertebrate anatomy, evolution, development and marine ecology. She has a research career including field, laboratory, and theoretical studies on aspects of biodiversity including marine larval ecology, coral reef fish ecology and evolution, skeletal development and evolution in all major vertebrate groups. She has participated in NSF REU, GRFP, and EDEN projects as a faculty mentor. As outreach, she developed a service-learning program entitled “Bones: Your Inner Animal” which introduced biology undergraduates to scientific communication and service by bringing the concepts of evolution to over 3000 schoolchildren on the SouthCoast of Massachusetts over the past decade. She also runs a weeklong Science Camp for Girls each summer and is involved in diversity and curriculum leadership on campus. Her research is published in Nature, Science, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, and Proceedings of the Royal Society, among others.
Graduate Research Assistants
Usman Ijaz
Usman is pursuing a PhD in STEM education with a concentration in science education at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. His research interests include environmental education and incorporating citizen science projects into teaching practices using SSI-based instruction. His professional experience includes designing and implementing environmental education campaigns while working with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF-Pakistan). Usman is also keenly interested in improving education and awareness about environmental issues through nature documentaries.
Ashique SMMR
Mr. SMMR Ashique is a dedicated academic currently pursuing his PhD in STEM Education & Teacher Development as a Distinguished Doctoral Fellow at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. His journey in academia began with roles spanning from an education faculty to K-12 science educator, curriculum developer, and research assistant- UNICEF. At the intersection of theory and practice, Mr. Ashique’s current research endeavors center on STEM education, with a particular emphasis on embedding science content within authentic real-world contexts. His contributions appear in esteemed journals such as the IJES, JSMESEA, JEP, and Teacher’s World. His findings have also been presented at prominent conferences likewise the ICASE, the CoSMEd, and the International Conference on Physics, among others. Beyond academia, Mr. Ashique is active in leadership, travel, sports, and culinary exploration.
Rachel L. Stronach
Project Manager
Kym Welty
Kym Welty has extensive experience supporting NSF grants for UMassD including the TEACH SouthCoast STEM Program among others. Kym works on pre-/post-grant support at the Kaput Center for Research and Innovation in STEM Education and works with the PI team, the graduate students, and the advisory board.
Informal Environmental Education Partner – The Lloyd Center for the Environment
The Lloyd Center for the Environment (LCE) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) research, education, and outreach center located in Dartmouth, MA and has been a longstanding collaborator of PIs Witzig and Kavanagh. The mission of the Lloyd Center is to instill a lifelong respect and affection for nature in citizens of all ages through research and education; to advance a scientific and public understanding of our coastal ecosystems and the need to protect them; and to promote a legacy of natural diversity largely in, but not restricted to, the coastal environments of southeastern New England. They seek to instill in students of all ages an understanding and appreciation of our coastal and watershed environments, their unique and fragile nature and our special relationship and responsibility to them. Since its establishment, the Center has grown through the effort and commitment of thousands of supporters to be one of the most significant member and community supported educational and research organizations in the region. As an educational force, the Center provides a broad range of programs for disadvantaged and minority students in cities such as New Bedford and Fall River (and beyond), as well as teacher training throughout Southeastern New England. Annually Lloyd Center Educators work with up to 15,000 students and 150 teachers from over 30 different communities and over 50 different schools. Almost 50% of the students in Lloyd Center programs are from high-needs schools. For over 30 years, the LCE has worked with the SouthCoast community on a number of biodiversity monitoring programs. The LCE runs a “Biodiversity Initiative” Citizen Science project, an Osprey Citizen Science project, and is a local affiliate of the Cornell University Ornithology Lab’s citizen science Feederwatch program (feederwatch.org/). LCE naturalist and education staff make observations for 2 hours each day and enter data each week year-round providing an abundance of bird observations to the database for scientific investigation. In other projects, LCE naturalists lead community groups in field surveys and keep records on winter migratory waterfowl, lepidopterans, coastal invertebrates, as well as bird species. These long-running citizen science projects at the LCE can be used by college professors in their courses.
Former Research Assistants
Hamza Malik, Ph.D.