Kimberly Tanner is in Washington, D.C. this week for her work with the NSF Division of Undergraduate Education as the new Program Director!
She shares photos of her very first time in her NSF office and the SEPAL swag she brought along to share with her NSF network.
Congratulations to Dax Ovid, Mallory Rice, Joshua Vargas Luna, Karen Tabayoyong, Parinaz Lajevardi, and Kimberly Tanner on their incredible work leading to a new publication in CBE-Life Sciences Education!
Their research addresses what undergraduate biology students remember and think about the non-content language (Instructor Talk) that their instructors say in the classroom.
To learn more about it, you can read “Investigating Student Perceptions of Instructor Talk: Alignment with Researchers’ Categorizations and Analysis of Remembered Language” here!
A new research article publication that represents a collaboration among many students, staff, and faculty in the SFSU Biology department has been published. These efforts were funded by a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Inclusive Excellence award to our campus. Special recognition for their leadership on this effort to Dr. Blake Riggs, Associate Professor of Biology, and to Dr. Maurina Aranda, then SEPAL Postdoc and now Assistant Professor of Biology at Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville.
This research reports discoveries about the widespread, positive impacts of student-authored inclusive biology curriculum – Scientist Spotlights – developed in the context of an SFSU biology service-learning course and implemented by faculty across multiple biology courses. You can read the article here.
These efforts not only contribute inclusive curriculum to SFSU biology courses, but to the field of biology education nationally and internationally through the Scientist Spotlights Initiative website.
SEPAL Director and Professor of Biology Dr. Kimberly Tanner has accepted a position as a Program Director at the National Science Foundation (NSF) in the Division of Undergraduate Education, beginning Monday, August 30th, 2021. As a longtime beneficiary of NSF opportunities and funding, she is excited to serve, learn, and collaborate to promote STEM excellence for all during her time at the NSF. As part of her NSF professional development support, her research group at SFSU – SEPAL: The Science Education Partnership and Assessment Laboratory – will continue to conduct research, have active non-NSF grants, and welcome new graduate students and postdoctoral scholars. Additionally, she will continue as Co-Editor-in-Chief of the journal CBE–Life Sciences Education (LSE). Dr. Tanner (Kimberly!) looks forward to sharing all that she learns from her time at the NSF with the SFSU community.
Paul Nagami, a SFSU Biology and SEPAL research group MS alumnus, has just accepted a tenure-track biology instructor position at Mission College.
Now former instructor from Holy Names University, Paul will begin his new ventures and share his knowledge on science education with his new students and faculty members at Mission College.
Berenice (Alex) Cabrera – one of our SFSU Biology alumni for both undergraduate and graduate biology programs – has been offered a full-ride scholarship for graduate studies in Higher Education at the University of Michigan this August.
While an undergraduate biology major at SFSU, Alex was a student leader through the SFSU SEPAL Spectrum Program: Building Pathways to Biomedical Research Careers for Girls and Women of Color, which was funded by the NIH. She then returned to complete her MS in Biology at SEPAL, studying biology students’ experiences with advising and office hours in our department.
Dr. Morgan Meyers – one of our esteemed SFSU Biology MS graduate alumni from the Carpenter Lab, and a SEPAL GTA leader – will be sharing her marine biology expertise and join the faculty at the University of Georgia! While at SFSU, Morgan was a beloved Biol 320 GTA, and then she went on to complete her PhD in New Zealand.
Dr. Sarah Bissonnette – one of our esteemed SFSU SEPAL Postdoc alumni and current Assistant Professor at CSU Stanislaus – has won the 2021 Elizabeth Anne B. Papageorge Faculty Teaching Award.
While at SFSU, Sarah conducted research on students’ understanding of cancer and general organization of biology knowledge while also serving as a key instructor in the Biol 230 course, which she has now adapted and pioneered as an instructor at CSU Stanislaus.
Click here to learn more about the award she has won.
Elleanor Pangilinan, a SEPAL first-year graduate student, has just won a prestigious 2021 Sally Casanova Pre-Doctoral Scholar Award. In addition to receiving scholarship funds, this award will support Elleanor in exploring potential doctoral studies in science education at a University of California campus or other doctoral-granting institution next summer.
Jessica Toledo – a recent SFSU Biology alum who was also an outstanding inaugural student leader in Biol 654: PALS – Peer Assistants for Learning Science – has just accepted her first post-graduation position at UCSF’s Cancer & Infusion Center.
©2026 SEPAL is made possible through funds from the National Institutes of Health Science Education Partnership Award (NCRRSEPAR25RR024307-01), National Science Foundation GK-12 Grant (DGE0337949), PFSMETE Start-Up Grant (DGE-0136879), SFSU Center for Math and Science Education, SFSU Institute for Civic and Community Engagement and through in-kind support from the SFSU Department of Biology and College of Science and Engineering.
