Neil Lamb, PhD

Director of Education
Hudson Alpha Institute of Biotechnology
NSSTC Bldg
320 Sparkman Dr, Rm 4266
Huntsville AL 35805

Dr. Neil E. Lamb is the Director of Education and Outreach for the Hudson-Alpha Institute for Biotechnology (HAIB), a non-for-profit research institute in Huntsville, Alabama. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Molecular Biology from Auburn University in 1992 and his Ph.D. in Human Genetics from Emory University in 1997. As an NIH training grant fellow at Emory, his dissertation focused around risk factors involved in the mechanism of chromosome nondisjunction leading to trisomy 21 (Down syndrome). In 1999 Dr. Lamb joined the faculty of what was then the Department of Genetics at Emory University. He established and served as the founding director of the Center for Medical Genomics, a high-throughput DNA extraction, storage and analysis lab focusing on automated techniques used to examine genetic variation. During this time, Dr. Lamb became heavily involved in educational outreach, teaching in several courses across the university, directing the Genetics course for the School of Medicine and receiving the Dean’s Golden Apple Award for Teaching. In 2005 he became the Director of Education for the newly formed Department of Human Genetics, overseeing educational opportunities with the Schools of Medicine, Nursing and Theology, as well as directing outreach efforts for K-12 programs and the public. In August 2006, Dr. Lamb accepted the position of Education and Outreach Director for HAIB. He maintains an Adjunct appointment with the School of Medicine at Emory University, continuing his involvement both in trisomy 21 research and medical education reform. Dr. Lamb is married with three children.

Betty Carvellas

Betty Carvellas is a teacher and co-chair of the science department at Essex High School in Vermont. She is currently in her 39th year of teaching, having taught students from grades 7-12. Her professional service includes work at the local, state and national levels. She served as co-chair of the Science and Mathematics Education Committee and served on the Executive Board of the Council of Scientific Society Presidents. She is a past president and Honorary Member of the National Association of Biology Teachers, and served on the Board of the Biological Sciences curriculum Study (BSCS). In 1984, she received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science Teaching. In 2002 she spent 6 weeks on an ice breaker in the Bering Sea and the Arctic Ocean as a part of the NSF funded TEA program, Teachings Experiencing Antarctica and the Arctic, and she has returned to the Arctic for three subsequent expeditions. Currently she serves as a member of the Teacher Advisory Council at the National Academies. Her interests include interdisciplinary teaching, connecting “school” science to the real world, traveling with students on interdisciplinary field studies to Andros Island, Bahamas and Costa Rica, and bringing inquiry into her science classroom.

Adam Hott, EdD

Adam Hott began his love for genetics at 10 years old in a small, Illinois elementary school.  He earned his bachelor’s degree from Ball State University, his master’s degree from the University of Cincinnati, and his doctorate of education in biology from Ball State University.  He is currently an assistant professor of biology at Southern Connecticut State University where he is the life science education certificate coordinator.  His research focuses on genetics education at the undergraduate level.  In collaboration with the other members of the ASHG subcommittee on undergraduate education, Adam published a set of recommendations on genetics content coverage for undergraduate, non-science major courses.  Most recently, he has developed and continues to evaluate a Genetics Concept Inventory that is designed to assess the genetics content knowledge of students completing an undergraduate, non-science major’s biology course.  He has been involved with the ASHG Information and Education subcommittee on undergraduate education for six years and is the chair of the committee responsible for developing and coordinating the 2006 and 2007 Undergraduate Genetics Education Workshop.

Kristi Martinez

Program Manager, The StarNet Project

University of Washington

Department of Genome Sciences, Education Outreach Box 355065 Foege Building, S-031

1705 NE Pacific St.

Seattle, WA 98195-5065

Kristi Martinez graduated from the University of Washington with a Bachelor of Science in Cell and Molecular Biology. Upon graduation she began managing the Student-Scientist Teacher Authentic Research Network (StarNet) Project in the Department of Genome Sciences at the University of Washington. The StarNet Project aims to involve high school students and teachers in authentic research projects in the areas of genetics, biotechnology and the influence of genetic and environmental factors on nicotine addiction. In addition to her work with the StarNet Project, Kristi will graduate from the University of Washington with a Master in Teaching degree and Washington State Residency Teaching Certificate, endorsed to teach Biology and General Science.

Megan Brown

Genetics Education Partnership

Department of Molecular Biotechnology, University of Washington (funded by the Eisenhower Foundation)

mtbrown@u.washington.edu

Dr. Brown has a B.S. in Biology and a Ph.D. in Genetics and has gone to school in Washington, California, and Switzerland. Her dissertation was on yeast genetics and focused on the behavior of chromosomes during cell division. She was a postdoc at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, studying mechanisms of carcinogenesis in mammalian cells, and she has also worked at a biotech company as a technical writer and editor in the Marketing department.  She has always been interested in communicating science to the public, and became involved in K-12 education outreach by volunteering at the Science Education Partnership at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. In 1997, she served as the science writer for the Genetics Education Partnership, a one year Eisenhower funded professional development program for K-12 teachers that was organized by Education Outreach of the the UW's Department of Molecular Biotechnology.  She began working part-time at the UW when the GENETICS Project began in Fall of 1999 and has now expanded her efforts to include working as the webmaster for the High School Human Genome Program. She also works part-time as a freelance science writer and likes to write about cancer, medicine, and science careers for both print and web media.

Cindy Gay

Steamboat Springs High School

PO Box 774368

45 Maple Street

Steamboat Springs, CO 80477