The Connected Bio project is a partnership between the Concord Consortium and Michigan State University’s Lyman Briggs College and BEACON Center for the Study of Evolution in Action.
Our Team
- Frieda Reichsman
- Principal Investigator
The Concord Consortium - Frieda is a molecular and cellular biologist who strives to make science accessible. She is currently focused on how multi-level modeling can help students perceive and understand pathways from genes to traits, and how these pathways ultimately play out in evolution. She has led the development of three online games for teaching genetics and molecular biology and has designed interactive 3D models for exploring connections between molecular structure and function. Her animated models have appeared in online textbooks and in research journals and presentations. At the University of Massachusetts, she co-developed the “MyDNA” undergraduate course for non-science majors to engage with modern DNA science. She holds a doctorate in Molecular and Cellular Biology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, where as an NIH Fellow, she also did her postdoctoral training.
- Peter J. T. White
- Principal Investigator
Michigan State University - Peter is a science education researcher and entomologist at Michigan State University. He earned his Ph.D. in Biology from McGill University in Montreal, Canada. Prior to this project, he spent three years developing and testing innovative curriculum to foster a deeper understanding of evolution among students. This project had a large impact on the teaching of evolution across the nation, and the evolution education website that he co-designed and co-developed (www.evo-ed.org) provides valuable teaching and learning resources. Peter is also an associate editor for the journal Biodiversity and Conservation, a Fellow of the International Society for Design and Development in Education, and holds memberships at the Lepidopterists’ Society, the Entomological Society of American, and the National Association of Biology Teachers.
- Louise S. Mead
- Co-Principal Investigator
Michigan State University - Louise is an evolutionary biologist with a broad range of teaching and administrative experience. Louise started her career as a high school science teacher and then earned a PhD in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Massachusetts. She spent four years as the Education Project Director for the National Center for Science Education (NCSE), and is currently the Education Director at the BEACON Center for the Study of Evolution in Action. Louise teaches undergraduate biology and evolution, and is PI or Co-PI on three education-related projects – NSF IUSE: Active LENS: Learning about Evolution and the Nature of Science; NSF DRK12: Collaborative Research: Scientific Data in Schools: Measuring the efficacy of an innovative approach to integrating quantitative reasoning in secondary science; NSF DRK12: Collaborative Research: Connected Biology: Three-dimensional learning from molecules to populations.
- Rebecca Ellis, PhD
- Research Associate
Michigan State University - Rebecca Ellis graduated from Michigan State University in 2018 with a PhD in Curriculum, Instruction, and Teacher Education. Her research focus is on assessment and validity, where she aims to ensure that curricula and their corresponding assessments are accessible and fair. She has taught courses at the high school and undergraduate level, where regardless of the subject matter, she includes hands-on learning, incorporates authentic connection to the material, and stresses critical thinking skills. In her spare time, Rebecca likes to read novels, dance salsa, and rock climb.
- Kiley McElroy-Brown
- Project Manager
The Concord Consortium - Kiley is a project manager for the Connected Biology project. She is responsible for coordinating the development process of our technology-enhanced resources, observing teachers implementing our educational innovations, and collaborating with project researchers. She holds a B.S. in Biology from Bridgewater State University and an M.S. in Biology from the University of Massachusetts Boston, where she studied the effects of different pedagogical strategies on student performance and learning in undergraduate biology courses.
- Jim Smith
- Senior Personnel
Michigan State University - Jim is a Professor of Biology in the Lyman Briggs College at Michigan State University, with a joint appointment in the MSU Department of Entomology. Smith teaches introductory biology and senior capstone courses (e.g., Evolutionary Medicine, Nature-Nurture) for undergraduates within the Lyman Briggs College, as well as conducting research and scholarship in evolution education. Smith was the PI on the NSF project that developed the Integrative Cases in Evolution Education (Evo-ED cases), and he is Co-PI on the NSF-funded Avida-ED Active LENS project. Smith and his students conduct research on the evolutionary relationships of Rhagoletis fruit flies and their parasitoid wasps. These efforts focus on deciphering the evolutionary relationships of naturally occurring Rhagoletis species and populations that are distributed across the temperate zones of the Old and New World. Smith is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
The following people have also contributed to the development and support of ConnectedBio over the years: Kristin Bass, Sam Fentress, Merle Heidemann, Paul Horwitz, Angela Kolonich, Eli Kosminsky, Joe Krajcik, Matt Lewandowski, Michael Tirenin, Alexa Warwick
Collaborating Teachers
We gratefully acknowledge the contributions of the following teachers for their important role in curriculum development and implementation.
- Clinton Bartholomew, Jackson, MI
- Kenneth Berger, Moscow, ID
- Rebecca Brewer, Troy, MI
- Dylan Gamache, Leominster, MA
- Emily Harward, Salt Lake City, UT
- Julie Hilker, Clinton Township, MI
- Fred Hingst, DeWitt, MI
- James McCusker, Folsom, PA
- Timothy Newman, Oakland, CA
- Amy Stirling, Grand Rapids, MI