I am an Assistant Professor and the program coordinator for the Masters of Art in Teaching (MAT) in STEM Education Program at NC State. I earned my BS in Biology, MS and PhD in Science Education from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA. My areas of expertise include K-12 STEM professional development for teachers, integrating emerging sciences in the K-12 curriculum, program evaluation, and educational assessment.I have previously been a Principal Investigator on several grants from the US Department of Education and various corporate funding sources. Originally, from Long Island, NY, I was raised on and worked my family's potato farm through college and conducted investigations involving parasitic plants (cuscuta) as part of my undergraduate studies. My past international work involves educational consulting in the Shanxi Province in China and a year long study experience involving botany and marine science in Australia. I am excited to work on program development for undergraduate research, along with investigating the impact of various knowledge dissemination methodologies in Africa. Lastly I am optimistic that various teacher and student curricular outreach within the context of this project will be well received and the impact of our work will reach a broad range of audiences.