Information on the Co-Facilitators
Professor Kimberly Tanner is a tenured Professor of Biology at San Francisco State University (SFSU). Her laboratory – SEPAL: the Science Education Partnership and Assessment Laboratory – investigates what is challenging to learn in biology, how biologists choose to teach, and how to make equity, diversity, and inclusion central in science education efforts. As a Science Faculty with an Education Specialty (SFES), she is engaged in discipline-based education research, directs multiple grant-funded K-16+ biology education reform efforts, and is deeply engaged in faculty professional development. Dr. Tanner is an Elected Fellow of the California Academy of Sciences and the American Society of Cell Biology (ASCB). She received the 2012 national Outstanding Undergraduate Science Teacher Award from the Society for College Science Teachers, the 2017 Bruce Alberts Science Education Award from ASCB, the 2018 SFSU Distinguished Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching, and the 2018 UC San Francisco Audacious Alumni Award. Trained as a neurobiologist at UCSF with postdoctoral studies in science education at Stanford, Dr. Tanner is a proud first-generation college-going student.
Professor Jeff Schinske is the anatomy and physiology course coordinator at Foothill College where he conducts research on equity and inclusion in science classrooms. He leads two federal grant programs: The Scientist Spotlights Initiative, which supports the development and dissemination of inclusive biology curricula, and CC Bio INSITES, which empowers community college biology faculty to conduct and publish education research. Jeff has authored numerous high-profile biology education research articles, is a steering committee member for the Society for the Advancement of Biology Education Research (SABER), and serves as lead biology curriculum reviewer for C-ID, California’s statewide course articulation system. Jeff is a frequent featured speaker in the areas of discipline-based education research and STEM equity, and was the 2018 recipient of the national Outstanding Undergraduate Science Teaching Award from the Society for College Science Teachers.
Lucy Luong is the Program Coordinator for SEPAL at SFSU. She received her B.A. from Dartmouth College and Ph.D. at the University of California, Davis (UC Davis) in chemistry. At UC Davis, Lucy founded and coordinated the Chemistry Peer Mentoring Program to help first-year students transition into college and the science community. At SEPAL, Lucy works closely managing the Scientist Spotlights Initiative online database and peer-reviewing student-authored Scientist Spotlights. She was also involved in recruitment of undergraduate leaders for an SFSU biology service-learning course that partners students with faculty to co-develop inclusive curricula like Scientist Spotlights and has co-instructed in selected course sessions. Lucy is proud to be a first-generation college-going student and 1.5-generation Vietnamese immigrant as well.
