Team

Megumi Asada is a doctoral student at the Rutgers Graduate School of Education. Their research takes an abolitionist perspective towards undergraduate proof-based mathematics. They are interested in developing equitable and justice-oriented classroom environments.

megumi.asada@gse.rutgers.edu

Tasha Austin is an Assistant Professor of Teacher Education, Language Education, and Multilingualism at SUNY Buffalo Graduate School of Education. Consistent with her public scholarship in hosting the YouTube series “Critical Conversations,” she seeks to surface the manifestations of anti-blackness in teacher preparation and supports humanizing and engaged pedagogical, assessment, and curricular development across disciplines from K-12 to postgraduate levels.

tashaaus@buffalo.edu

Leona Cheung is an educator and web/graphic designer who explores the poetic intersection of design, science, and technology. Her personal practice uses multisensory design as an accessible approach to understanding science and forming deeper connections with nonhuman species. She graduated with a MFA in Design from Rutgers University and a B.A. in Communication from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

leonacheun@gmail.com

Sugat Dabholkar is a postdoctoral associate at the Rutgers Graduate School of Education. His research interests include co-designing technology-integrated curricular materials for science classrooms and investigating students’ epistemic participation as they navigate sociocultural aspects of their identities and values in disciplinary learning settings.

sugat.dabholkar@tufts.edu

Angelica Dalzon is a Haitian-American artist based in Newark, New Jersey. She received her BFA from the School of Visual Arts for Illustration (2022). Angelica enjoys using sensory color that creates an inviting dreamy-pop feeling to her illustrations. With textured lines and whimsical compositions, she centers stories of diversity and inclusion for audiences across all ages. Her work is informed by music, literature, and authentic moments of beauty in everyday life. She approaches her work with a playful curiosity and emotional softness that allows the viewer to become familiar with the subjects in their environments. She aims for audiences to feel seen, acknowledged, and encouraged by the vivaciousness of her subjects.

angelicadalzon@gmail.com

Ravit Golan Duncan is a Professor of Learning Sciences and Science Education at the Rutgers Graduate School of Education. She has several lines of research focused on epistemic practices, justice-oriented teaching, and learning progressions. She spends much of her time designing instructional materials to promote meaningful science learning for students.

ravit.duncan@gse.rutgers.edu

Anhar Islam is a Master’s student in biology education at the Rutgers Graduate School of Education. Her research interests are creating a more equitable and social justice-oriented biology curriculum. She seeks to create real-life connections between STEM and the world so her students may be empowered with tools to combat inequities and injustices.

aai36@scarletmail.rutgers.edu

Jaya Joshi is an undergraduate pharmacy student at Rutgers University-New Brunswick. She has been a part of the Bio4Community research team since the fall of 2021 and is excited to continue working with the team in the future. She hopes to continue conducting research and working with children/youth upon graduation from Rutgers.

jj785@scarletmail.rutgers.edu

Rishi Krishnamoorthy is an Assistant Professor of Science Education and the Learning Sciences at Pennsylvania State University. Their research examines the sociocultural and historical power dynamics that shape who is valued as successful in learning environments towards shifting how educators and institutions can better support youth by prioritizing marginalized communities’ ways of knowing and being through school science curricula.

rkrish@psu.edu

Frieda Reichsman is a Senior Research Scientist at the Concord Consortium. Her work focuses on creating interactive multi-level modeling software to support students’ integrated understanding of biology that spans vastly different levels of scale, from molecular biology to genetics, physiology, and evolution.

freichsman@concord.org

Burrell Smithen is a graduate of Rutgers University with a B.S. in Public Health and a minor in Medical Ethics and Health Policy. Joining Bio4Community during the Aresty Summer Science Program 2021, he has been able to contribute to the development of the Bio4Community curriculum throughout its progression. His research interests include social epidemiology and social determinants of health.

bas321@scarletmail.rutgers.edu

Edna Tan is Hooks Distinguished Professor of STEM Education at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Her collaborative research investigates the design, support, and outcomes of equitable and consequential STEM learning for historically minoritized youth across learning contexts and over time.

e_tan@uncg.edu

Ti’Era Worsley is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Her research interests focus on informal STEM education with secondary-school aged youth. Dr. Worsley works with Black youth in an informal makerspaces at a local Boys and Girls Club.

tdworsle@uncg.edu