Opening Plenary: Eva Pell
Dr. Eva J. Pell, recently retired under secretary for science at the Smithsonian Institution and former Penn State senior vice president for research and dean of the Graduate School, is a biologist, plant pathologist, and science administrator.
Dr. Pell spent nearly four decades at Penn State before leaving to work as the under secretary of science for the Smithsonian Institution in Jan. 2010. As under secretary, she oversaw operations of the National Museum of Natural History; the National Air and Space Museum; the National Zoo and its Conservation and Research Center in Front Royal, Va.; the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Mass.; the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Edgewater, Md.; the Smithsonian’s Museum Conservation Institute in Suitland, Md.; and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama. In her efforts to foster and increase scientific research at the Smithsonian, Dr. Pell led the creation of the four “Grand Challenges Consortia” that develop interdisciplinary collaborations across the Smithsonian.
Dr. Pell earned a bachelor of science in biology from City College of the City University of New York in 1968 and a doctorate in plant biology from Rutgers University in 1972. She joined Penn State in 1973 as an assistant professor of plant pathology. She was named distinguished professor of plant pathology in 1991 and was named the John and Nancy Steimer Professor of Agricultural Sciences in 1995.
From Jan. 2000 to Dec. 2009, she served as the senior vice president for research and dean of the Graduate School. When Dr. Pell took over the research office, research expenditures were $393 million. During the decade of her tenure, the University’s expenditures nearly doubled: in the 2008-09 academic year research expenditures reached $765 million. This garnered the University a ninth-place ranking nationally among all public and private universities in research and development. In addition, Dr. Pell was responsible for the Penn State Research and Technology Transfer Organization, which connects Penn State researchers with industries in order to stimulate economic development. Pell was active in economic development and served on numerous state boards including the Ben Franklin Center of Central and Northern Pennsylvania, the Ben Franklin Technology Development Authority, the Technology Collaborative and the Life Science Greenhouse for Central Pennsylvania. She was also President of the Penn State Research Foundation and the Research Park Management Corp. In 2013 the university recognized her contributions by naming a new building after her, the “Eva J. Pell Laboratory for Advance Biological Research.”
A recipient of grants totaling more than $7 million and the author or co-author of more than 100 publications and 65 abstracts, Dr. Pell is recognized internationally for her research in the field of plant pathology. Her research focused on the impact of air pollutants on vegetation and spanned from the molecular to the ecophysiological. In recognition of leadership in her field, Dr. Pell was also elected as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in 2003.
Dr. Pell spent nearly four decades at Penn State before leaving to work as the under secretary of science for the Smithsonian Institution in Jan. 2010. As under secretary, she oversaw operations of the National Museum of Natural History; the National Air and Space Museum; the National Zoo and its Conservation and Research Center in Front Royal, Va.; the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Mass.; the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Edgewater, Md.; the Smithsonian’s Museum Conservation Institute in Suitland, Md.; and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama. In her efforts to foster and increase scientific research at the Smithsonian, Dr. Pell led the creation of the four “Grand Challenges Consortia” that develop interdisciplinary collaborations across the Smithsonian.
Dr. Pell earned a bachelor of science in biology from City College of the City University of New York in 1968 and a doctorate in plant biology from Rutgers University in 1972. She joined Penn State in 1973 as an assistant professor of plant pathology. She was named distinguished professor of plant pathology in 1991 and was named the John and Nancy Steimer Professor of Agricultural Sciences in 1995.
From Jan. 2000 to Dec. 2009, she served as the senior vice president for research and dean of the Graduate School. When Dr. Pell took over the research office, research expenditures were $393 million. During the decade of her tenure, the University’s expenditures nearly doubled: in the 2008-09 academic year research expenditures reached $765 million. This garnered the University a ninth-place ranking nationally among all public and private universities in research and development. In addition, Dr. Pell was responsible for the Penn State Research and Technology Transfer Organization, which connects Penn State researchers with industries in order to stimulate economic development. Pell was active in economic development and served on numerous state boards including the Ben Franklin Center of Central and Northern Pennsylvania, the Ben Franklin Technology Development Authority, the Technology Collaborative and the Life Science Greenhouse for Central Pennsylvania. She was also President of the Penn State Research Foundation and the Research Park Management Corp. In 2013 the university recognized her contributions by naming a new building after her, the “Eva J. Pell Laboratory for Advance Biological Research.”
A recipient of grants totaling more than $7 million and the author or co-author of more than 100 publications and 65 abstracts, Dr. Pell is recognized internationally for her research in the field of plant pathology. Her research focused on the impact of air pollutants on vegetation and spanned from the molecular to the ecophysiological. In recognition of leadership in her field, Dr. Pell was also elected as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in 2003.
Keynote: Brendan Mullan
Brendan Mullan explores innovative ways to communicate astronomy to the public and inspire a new generation of scientists. He is a 2013 National Geographic Emerging Explorer, the national champion of the 2012 U.S. FameLab science communication competition, former director of the Buhl Planetarium and Observatory at the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh, and current Director of Science at The Wrinkled Brain Project.
Brendan thinks scientists should reach out—to schoolchildren, college undergraduates, folks in the neighborhood, curious web browsers, and everyone in between. His astronomy research tackles some of astrobiology’s most complex questions, but his public outreach efforts bring astronomy and astrobiology out of the ivory tower to make science more accessible, engaging, and entertaining. His current work at The Wrinkled Brain Project is a unique synthesis of real scientists and science educators to revolutionize science education. Rather than focusing on science content, they want science education to focus on science process, such as critical thinking skills, problem solving and collaboration. They aim to wrinkle student’s brains by introducing inquiry and science thinking in the science classroom through low-cost online platforms that schools of all economic levels can access.
He believes that inspiring this new generation of scientists is crucial. “The 21st-century problems we face—climate change, sustainability, disease, you name it—can only be ameliorated with 21st-century ideas, aka science.”
Brendan has had stars in his eyes since he was 10 years old. “It all started at a planetarium for me. I went on a school field trip to the local dome we had in one of the high schools. The lights dimmed, all these bright pinpoints appeared overhead, and I learned about how stars are born, evolve, and die; the mystery of black holes; violent supernovae explosions. I thought it was the coolest thing in the world and decided right there I wanted to know how it all works. I was so fortunate to have access to resources like that; I want to pay it forward to the next generation. What could be more fun and meaningful than sharing the majesty of the cosmos with everyone?”
Brendan thinks scientists should reach out—to schoolchildren, college undergraduates, folks in the neighborhood, curious web browsers, and everyone in between. His astronomy research tackles some of astrobiology’s most complex questions, but his public outreach efforts bring astronomy and astrobiology out of the ivory tower to make science more accessible, engaging, and entertaining. His current work at The Wrinkled Brain Project is a unique synthesis of real scientists and science educators to revolutionize science education. Rather than focusing on science content, they want science education to focus on science process, such as critical thinking skills, problem solving and collaboration. They aim to wrinkle student’s brains by introducing inquiry and science thinking in the science classroom through low-cost online platforms that schools of all economic levels can access.
He believes that inspiring this new generation of scientists is crucial. “The 21st-century problems we face—climate change, sustainability, disease, you name it—can only be ameliorated with 21st-century ideas, aka science.”
Brendan has had stars in his eyes since he was 10 years old. “It all started at a planetarium for me. I went on a school field trip to the local dome we had in one of the high schools. The lights dimmed, all these bright pinpoints appeared overhead, and I learned about how stars are born, evolve, and die; the mystery of black holes; violent supernovae explosions. I thought it was the coolest thing in the world and decided right there I wanted to know how it all works. I was so fortunate to have access to resources like that; I want to pay it forward to the next generation. What could be more fun and meaningful than sharing the majesty of the cosmos with everyone?”
Snapshots of STEM Policy Perspective: Benjamin Corb
Benjamin Corb brings to the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology more than a decade of experience in building partnerships between the federal government and the private sector to utilize scientific advancement to improve the quality of life and well-being of Americans. Corb has made a career in science policy and advocacy, having spent two years as director of public affairs at the Washington, D.C.-based American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, serving as the chief public face of the organization before institute partners, the White House and Congress. Before that, he served as Executive Director and senior technical coordinator for the Next Generation Air Transportation System Institute, a policy manager for the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and a management analyst for the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, where he developed the VA’s first energy conservation policy.
Snapshots of STEM Industry Perspective: Kathleen Gehoski
Kathleen A. Gehoski, is the Lead Lithography and Imprint Engineer in the Nanofabrication Laboratory, within the Materials Research Institute, at The Pennsylvania State University. She is also the NNIN Education and Outreach Coordinator. She has been with the University since 2008. Prior to joining the University Mrs. Gehoski was a Senior Lithography Engineer at Motorola Labs at Motorola Inc. in Tempe, Arizona for 25 years. Her primary responsibilities included lithography process development for a variety of devices; MEMs, MRAM, RF, NED, Fuel Cells, Micro-Fluidic and SAW on a variety of substrates; GaN, GaAS, Si, quartz, SiC, and flexible materials. The last five years at Motorola Mrs. Gehoski was instrumental in bringing on-line the first commercially available Imprint tool. She has authored or co-authored over 40 publications pertaining to lithography and imprint, with two issued US patents. Mrs. Gehoski has an AAS in Electro-Mechanical-Automation, a BS in Computer Information Systems, and an MBA.
Snapshots of STEM Academia Perspective: Melissa Rolls
Melissa Rolls is currently an Associate Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Penn State. Her cell biology training began in the summer between high school and college when she worked in a lab at Johns Hopkins University. She continued to do cell biology and virology research as an undergraduate at Yale University. During graduate school at Harvard she turned her microscope to neurons and has been working on these long, thin and very important cells since then. She moved to the west coast to the University of Oregon for a post-doc and learned how to combine Drosophila genetics with cell biology. Her lab at Penn State continues to work on the basic cell biology of neurons in addition to how these cells respond to injury and stress. In addition, she is the Director of the Center for Cellular Dynamics, the Associate Director of the MD/PhD program and the Chair of the Molecular, Cellular and Integrative Biosciences graduate program.
Snapshots of STEM Outreach Perspective: Mike Zeman
Mike Zeman earned his B.S and M.S degrees in Kinesiology at Penn State University. He then spent seven years teaching K-12 Health Education in Rochester, NY. Mr. Zeman earned his school district administrative degree (SDA) from the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts and worked as an assistant principal in Greece Central School District, NY, before returning to State College with his family to direct the Science-U program as Director of Outreach and Science Engagement at Penn State.
He has presented talks on leadership and science education at the Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence Student Leadership Conference as well as the National Science Teachers Association Conference, and currently serves on the College of Science Retention Committee and the University Task Force on Service Learning and Student Engagement. Mr. Zeman has experience coordinating outreach efforts with Penn State faculty across many STEM departments to make Penn State outreach phenomenal.
He has presented talks on leadership and science education at the Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence Student Leadership Conference as well as the National Science Teachers Association Conference, and currently serves on the College of Science Retention Committee and the University Task Force on Service Learning and Student Engagement. Mr. Zeman has experience coordinating outreach efforts with Penn State faculty across many STEM departments to make Penn State outreach phenomenal.
Snapshots of STEM Science Writing Perspective: A'ndrea Messer
A'ndrea Messer is a senior science and research information officer at the Pennsylvania State University. She graduated from Purdue University with a B.A. in Science and Culture and received a M.S. from Boston University in Journalism/ Science Communication. A'ndrea earned a M.S. and Ph.D in Anthropology from the Pennsylvania State University. She has worked as a science writer for the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and worked at Bell Labs as a technical editor. She has served as a volunteer press officer for the Society of American Archaeology. She has edited many journals and is also a AAAS fellow.