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StaffLeslie Peart
Sharon Katz-Cooper
In between projects (and making dinner), she writes children's books and magazine articles on science and social studies topics. She has written on such diverse subjects as ocean life, hats, France, the periodic table, and Aristotle. She loves to cook and bake, dance, travel and hang out with her boys: husband Jason and sons Reuven and Judah. She has traveled, both for work and play, to Madagascar, China, Israel, Venezuela, Japan, Europe, and many parts of Canada and the U.S. Sharon is a native to this area, having grown up in Washington, DC and Silver Spring, MD. After 18 years here, she was lured away by the Ivy League; Sharon holds a bachelor's degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Princeton University and a Masters in Environmental Studies from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. She is also pursuing a graduate certificate in early childhood education from George Mason University. Calvin (Buck) Buchholtz
Buck was a participant in the first School of Rock in 2005, and helped staff the JOI booth at the 2007 National Science Teachers Association meeting. John Firth
John received his PhD in Geology from Florida State University in 1989. While still a PhD student, John sailed as shipboard paleontologist on ODP Legs 105 and 126. John's interests include biostratigraphy, paleoecology and evolution of late Mesozoic to Cenozoic calcareous nannofossils and dinoflagellates, and their application towards geologic problems; palynofacies and thermal alteration analysis of kerogen; biostratigraphy and paleoecology of ichthyoliths and other marine vertebrate fossils; and Arctic and North Atlantic Cretaceous and Paleogene paleoceanography. Jörg Geldmacher
Mark Leckie
In the last ten years, I have become keenly interested in pedagogy and how we teach Earth science. My teaching, research, and service are all interconnected. In collaboration with Richard Yuretich, I have been exploring new interactive techniques to teach and engage students in large, non-laboratory introductory science courses. For example, we've instituted daily in-class problem-solving exercises and have successfully utilized two-stage multiple-choice exams. We published an in-class book entitled "Investigating the Ocean, An Interactive Guide to the Science of Oceanography". I've also introduced student-active learning into my smaller, advanced geology courses and seminars. I teach a broad spectrum of courses ranging from "Introductory Oceanography", to geology core courses such as "History of the Earth" and "Introductory Field Geology", to advanced courses and seminars in the areas of micropaleontology, paleoceanography, and paleoclimatology. I look forward to learning more about innovative teaching from School of Rock shipmates! Jay Miller
Between my Masters and PhD programs, I spent a year at the Nordic Volcanological Institute in Iceland as a Fulbright Fellow. While there I began a long term project attempting to understand the mechanics and environmental impact of large basaltic fissure eruptions, starting with the largest eruption of this type in historic time (Eldgja, 934 AD). For my PhD from the Ore Petrology and Geochemistry program at Purdue University, I investigated the plumbing system of a volcanic arc in the Pakistani Himalayas, followed by a postdoc in geophysics relating the seismic velocities of the rocks from the Kohistan Arc to the seismic structure of global active arcs. I joined the Ocean Drilling Program in 1993 after sailing as a scientist on Leg 147 looking at the lower ocean crust exposed at Hess Deep. During my tenure in scientific ocean drilling I have been the Staff Scientist/Project Manager for seven expeditions investigating the nature of the ocean crust and upper mantle and three other expeditions contrasting the various manifestations of seafloor hydrothermal mineralization systems. During several of these expeditions, we introduced the discipline of subseafloor microbiology to our science program and I participated in executing the first expedition in the history of scientific ocean drilling dedicated to investigating the diversity of the subseafloor microbiological community. I am excited by the opportunity to share a learning experience with all the participants in the School of Rock. Stefan Mrozewski
Before enjoying the leisurely pace of academic life, Stefan spent five years in the Gulf of Mexico oilfield as a logging engineer - then in sales - focused on deepwater exploration and well placement. Prior to that he spent time as a geologist with Syncrude, mining the Alberta oilsands. He sailed as logging-while-drilling engineer on ODP Legs 204 and 209, on gas hydrate drilling cruises in Japan and India, and helped drill and evaluate more than 50 oil and gas wells. Stefan believes educators play a particularly important and pressing role in generating interest in applied earth sciences and helping prepare the next generation of mining and energy industry geoscientists. Stefan earned a BSc in Geophysics from the University of Waterloo (Canada) and will soon complete an MSc in Technology Management from Columbia. He enjoys volleyball in Central Park, modeling with Lego, and traveling to watch soccer. Scott Slough
Kristen St. John
Debbie Thomas
I have been an Assistant Professor of Oceanography at Texas A&M for nearly 4 years. My field of specialty within Oceanography is Paleoceanography, which makes me largely a geologist. As a Paleoceanographer, I use the chemical and fossil content of deep-sea sediments to investigate ancient climate. This research has enabled me to become involved with the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP; www-odp.tamu.edu/) and the new Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP; www.iodp-usio.org/). I have had the spectacular opportunity to sail on two ODP expeditions aboard the JOIDES Resolution already, one to the northwestern Pacific Ocean and the other to the southeastern Atlantic Ocean. In addition, I sailed in the South Pacific aboard the R/V Melville during the spring of 2005 as part of a survey cruise for a prospective IODP expedition. However, research isn't the only exciting aspect of academic oceanography. I truly value my role as an educator, whether in the classroom, in the lab, or in the field. And I am thrilled to be part of the School of Rock 2007! Clearly my science teachers played a tremendous role in shaping my perceptions of science and now I have the opportunity to work with science educators on the cutting edge of curriculum development. Trevor Williams
I wasn't aware of this when I joined up, but my grandfather used to work on the cruise liners between Liverpool (my home town) and New York (my adopted home town), and his father was a sailor too. So the sea-legs run in my family. When not at sea, I am based at the Borehole Group at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, part of Columbia University in New York. We do the downhole logging for IODP: sending instruments down into the boreholes to measure rock properties such as porosity, density, and so on. It is the reverse of what happens in the labs on the drill ship: instead of putting rock samples inside instruments, we put instruments inside the rock itself. By way of outreach, I have written about my experiences of science in Antarctica in a blog for Popular Mechanics magazine, given guest lectures on a pleasure cruise to the Antarctic Peninsula, made a couple of presentations at Mike Passow's Earth-2-Class workshops, and been involved with the summer intern program at Lamont. I'm looking forward to School of Rock and learning more about teaching tomorrow's marine geologists! Katerina Petronotis
Contact us at learning@oceanleadership.org. |
Leslie Peart became Education Director for the Joint Oceanographic Institutions (JOI; now Consortium for Ocean Leadership) in August 2004, adding another twist to her diverse career as a science teacher and marine educator. In her most recent position, as the Director of Interpretive Education at Chicago's Shedd Aquarium, she directed thirty to forty staff in developing and implementing a wide array of daily learning activities for the Aquarium's 2.1 million yearly guests. Before Shedd, Leslie held positions as the first education director for the Alaska SeaLife Center in Seward, Alaska and as education specialist at the Texas State Aquarium in Corpus Christi, expanding on thirteen years in south Texas secondary science classrooms. Her experience ranges from educational television production, museum theatre and curriculum development to teacher education, undergraduate teaching and field guiding experiences in Texas, Mexico and Alaska's Inside Passage.
An avid sailor, Leslie has raced and explored the waters of the western Gulf of Mexico, Corpus Christi Bay, the Gulf of Alaska, Resurrection Bay and Lake Michigan. Ask her about the Wombat!
Sharon Katz-Cooper started at JOI in March 2007. Prior to joining JOI, Sharon was the educator on the core team developing the Smithsonian's Ocean Hall, a large new exhibit set to open in September 2008. She has also worked as a contractor doing education work for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and has a background in informal and conservation education. She learned about JOI through collaborations for the Ocean Hall and sailed on the first School of Rock expedition in November 2005.
Buck feels learning never stops. To him it is a continuous circle of self learning and new experiences that can then be shared with his colleagues and his students. It comes back around to him as he peaks interest in varying areas of the world of science for all those around him. This past summer he attended a Physics of Music workshop in California; he experienced weightlessness at the Educators Space Camp in Alabama; he operated (moved) the new Hobby-Eberly Telescope at the McDonald Observatory as part of a Tufts University Seminar and presented at the ESET (Empowering Science Education through Technology) in Texas. Calvin is a life long resident of San Antonio, Texas. He has taught at John Jay High School for 34 years and has taught summer classes in geology at St. Mary's University. He received his degree in geology at St. Mary's University, and with his composite teaching certification, he has taught marine biology, geology, astronomy, meteorology, conceptual physics, and IPC. His leadership skills are evident in the numerous workshops he conducts for students and teachers. He has been the Director of Summer Leadership Workshops for the Texas Association of Secondary School Principals and Student Councils. He is the anchor for the school campus as he coordinates the school wide calendar. He is on hand to assist the John Jay staff and students along with the staff and students of the Science and Engineering Academy. This multi-faceted educator still has time to devote to public television as one of the cameramen for special events.
John Firth is the IODP-USIO Curator and has been with the Program since 1989. He has served as ODP/IODP's Curator since 1997, overseeing four core repositories in Texas, California, New York, and Germany, and has sailed as Staff Scientist on ODP Legs 131, 136, 143, 151, 157, 159T, 168, and 169S.
Jörg Geldmacher became IODP Staff Scientist and Expedition Project
Manager in January 2007 after he sailed on Expedition 309 ("Superfast Spreading
Rate Crust 2", the second part of a multi-expedition project to drill a single
hole through the entire oceanic upper crust into the former magma
chamber). Jörg is an Igneous Geochemist by training and received his
Ph.D. in 2000 from the University of Kiel (Germany). His main area of
research is oceanic intra-plate volcanism (e.g., hotspots, ocean
islands, plume-ridge interaction, origin of Large Igneous Provinces).
In February 2008 he was appointed as Adjunct Professor at the
Department of Geology at Texas A&M University.
I've been teaching at UMass-Amherst since 1985. I grew up in the Midwest (Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois) where I developed a boyhood interest in fossils. That interest has never faded; I'm still an avid rock hound to this day. Pursuing a geology degree at Northern Illinois University seemed like a no-brainer after high school even though I never had an Earth science course. I had the opportunity to do field work in Antarctica as an undergrad and stayed on at NIU for a Masters degree and two more trips "to the ice". I did a Ph.D. at the University of Colorado where I really got into the geology of the Colorado Plateau; about half of my research still deals with Cretaceous age strata and microfossils from the west. As a first-year Ph.D. student I had the opportunity to sail on the Glomar Challenger with Deep Sea Drilling Project Leg 79. After Colorado, my wife and I moved to Cape Cod Massachusetts for a year-long stint as a post-doc at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution before moving on to the University of Massachusetts. I have participated in 5 Ocean Drilling Program legs between 1985 and 2003 (101, 130, 165, 198, and 210). My research focuses on biostratigraphy, paleoceanography, tectonics and climate, and the evolutionary history of planktic foraminifera.
I started my career in geology expecting to head straight to the oil patch after completing my undergraduate degree in geology. Late in my sophomore year, however, I took a required course in igneous petrology and the professor and subject matter were so engaging that during that single class I changed my goal to devoting my career to academics by learning and sharing ideas about volcanology and igneous petrology.
For the past two years, Stefan has served as a logging operations and product development engineer at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University.
I serve as an Associate Professor of Science Education in the Department of Teaching, Learning, and Culture and the ODASES Science Education Specialist at Texas A&M. I have been a practicing scientist and junior high science teacher as well as teaching science content and science education course at the university level. My first job out of college was at a Creosote plant. We used three main preservatives - creosote, pentachlorophenol, and Copper Chromated Arsenic (CCA). I was fairly happy as the guy responsible for all areas of quality control, until I was promoted to the environmental safety officer where I found out that I was routinely working with over 100 different hazardous chemicals. I decided that teaching junior high science couldn't be that dangerous, so I quit and went back to school. I found out two things, one I paid more attention when I paid for school and I really liked learning. I ultimately ended up with a B.S.F. in Forest Management with an emphasis in Wood Technology from Stephen F. Austin State University; Science Composite Teaching Certification, a M.Ed. in Secondary Education, and a M.S. in Chemistry from Sam Houston State University; and an Ed.D. in Science Education from the University of Houston. As a university faculty member, my research interests include a general interest in technology-supported learning in math and science; science content learning; Project-Based Learning (PBL), and program evaluation. I am married to a high school science teacher and former librarian and we have a daughter in the ninth grade. We travel/camp when we can. Recent trips include the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, four corners region, Rocky Mountain National Park, and the Smokies. My favorite sports are golf - participatory - and baseball - observatory (Go Astros!).
Kristen St. John is an Associate Professor in the Geology & Environmental Science Department at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA. Kristen keeps firm footing in both geoscience education and research. She strives to make geoscience content accessible and inviting to non-majors by translating scientific research results into active learning exercises for the classroom. Her marine geology research niche is in developing long-term records of ice-rafting and exploring their paleo-environmental and climatic implications. She served as a sedimentologist on ODP Expeditions 163 and 173, and for IODP 302, the Arctic Coring Expedition. Even more exciting though was being part of the first Education Expedition - the original School of Rock in 2005. Kristen is the Chair of the Education & Outreach subcommittee of the U.S. Advisory Committee on Scientific Ocean Drilling (whew - that's a long one!). She is also an associate editor of the Journal of Geoscience Education. Following undergraduate studies in Geology at Furman University (1992), Kristen received her MS (1995) and PhD (1998) in Geological Sciences from Ohio State University. She met her husband Larry (Navy Chief & UVA electronic technician), while on board ODP Leg 173. They have two children: Helen (age 8), who proves smarter, faster, and more charming than her parents daily, and Will (age 4), our future firefighter & Jedi knight.
My oceanography career began at the age of 10 through participation in
my elementary school gifted program. We were assigned the 4th grade
equivalent of a thesis project, and I selected Oceanography (although
I'm still not sure how a kid born and raised in Cincinnati, a 10-hour
drive from the nearest coast, even knew the word oceanography). Within
a few days I was a card-carrying member of the Cousteau Society and
subscriber to Oceanus. And I had declared my future career to be
oceanography. Later I fell in love with geology after taking Earth
Science during the 8th grade, and chose to major in Geological Sciences
in college. I attended Brown University, then went on to the
University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill for a M.S. in Marine Science
(1998), and Ph.D. in Geological Sciences (2002).
In my 12 years of scientific ocean drilling with ODP and IODP, I've been lucky enough to have been to Antarctica to investigate the history of the Antarctic ice (3 times!), to the west of Ireland to study giant reefs built by deep-water corals, and to the Bahamas to look at sea-level changes over geological time. I can highly recommend the view from the top of the derrick while going through the Panama Canal, and sailing into Capetown at dawn — this really is a very good job!
My interest in the Earth sciences started when I was growing up in Greece with its mountains, volcanic islands, and earthquakes. I have worked for ODP/IODP since 1995 as Graphics designer, Prime data coordinator, Editor, Yeoperson (Expeditions 311 and 316), and Web administrator. Before joining ODP, I worked as a researcher at the University of New England in Armidale, Australia; at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, New Mexico; and at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, where I got my Ph.D. in Geophysics in 1991. While in graduate school, I met my husband Gary Acton (also a geophysicist) and have been moving ever since. For now, Gary, our son Alex, and our cats call College Station home. [The photo was taken in July 2007 on the island of Crete in Greece.]