Life Of The School Podcast: The Podcast For Biology Teachers

David Knuffke is an educator in the Deer Park School District, in Deer Park, NY. He has taught Biology, Chemistry, and a series of electives, several of which he created for his district. David has developed a wide collection of materials for his AP Biology and Honors Chemistry students, and he also makes his materials freely available to any interested colleagues. These resources include a series of videos that serve as the major text in his Honors Chemistry course and a series of Prezis that span the length and breadth of his AP Biology curriculum. David is also actively involved in the science teaching community at the local, state, and national levels. In 2015 David was a New York State Finalist for the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching. In 2012 he was the recipient of the Kim Foglia AP Biology Service Award by the National Association of Biology Teachers. Many AP Biology teachers will know him as a former moderator of the College Board AP Biology Teacher Community. Da

In this episode I have a chat with Christine Brothers. Chris is the science department head at Falmouth High Schools in Falmouth, MA. She has taught a wide variety of life science courses, most recently beginning an AP Environmental Science course at Falmouth High. Chris has received many awards for her work in the classroom, including the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science Teaching, the Outstanding Biology Teacher Award from the National Association of Biology Teachers, and the Amgen Foundation Science Teaching Excellence Award. Chris was also the winner of the Entomological Foundation's 2015 President's Prize in Secondary Education. In 2014, Chris participated in the Siemens Teachers as Researchers (STARS) fellowship program at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. She co-authored the 2010 journal article “Using the Wolbachia Bacterial Symbiont to Teach Inquiry-Based Science: A High School Laboratory Series” with Seth R. Bordenstein and others in The American Biology Teacher.

In this episode, I sit down with Michele Witkowski. Michele is a Biology Teacher at Edison High School in Edison, New Jersey. In her first year at Edison High School, she was the Recipient of a $5,000 grant from BASF to purchase a classroom set of microscopes. This summer, Michele participated in “Teaching the Genome Generation™”, a platform for individual teachers and schools to enhance their genetics instruction through partnership with JAX Genomic Education and The Jackson Laboratory. During the 2015-2016 school year, Michele was a participant in the American Association of Immunology Summer Research Program for Teachers. Her AAI work has led to her being an author on a paper with Dr. Denzin which is currently under review. During the 2014-2015 school year, Michele was an NSTA New Science Teacher Academy Fellow. In March 2012, Michele was presented with the AFCEA STEM Teachers Scholarship. Michele earned her Master of Arts in Teaching in Biology and her Bachelor of Science in Biology with a minor in C

In this episode, I sit down with Amy Swiderski. Amy is a Human Physiology and AP Biology Teacher at Kahuku High and Intermediate School in Kahuku, Hawaii. Amy also teaches an online AP Biology course through the Hawaii e-school program. In addition to teaching, Amy is a Health Academy Advisor and the Health Occupations Students of America- Future Health Professionals competition advisor. She also is the Science Olympiad advisor and a Green/Science/Sustainability co-advisor. Amy earned her National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Certification in 2012. She has also worked as an online mentor and Facilitator for eMentoring for Student Success (eMSS) since 2006. Amy earned her BA in biology from the University of San Diego in 1992 and a Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Secondary Education from the University of Hawaii at Manoa in 1998.

In Episode 3, I chat with Rebekah Ravgiala, Biology and AP Biology at Tyngsborough High School. She has been actively involved in the BioBuilder community since 2011. BioBuilder works to make Synthetic Biology accessible to high school and middle school students. Rebekah led a high school team to the iGEM competition in 2012 and was a pioneering leader of the BioBuilder BioDesign Club for high school students. She has been awarded the ASBMB Fostering K12/University Partnership Grant in 2014 and the AMGEN Excellence in Science Teaching Award in 2013. Rebekah has presented her hands-on teaching methods at many conferences and professional workshops as well as publishing in journals such as The Journal of Chemical Education. Rebekah is graduate of Saint Anselm College with a degree in Biology. She earned a doctoral degree in Mathematics and Science Education in 2003 from the University of Massachusetts, Lowell.

In episode 2, I sit down with Garey High School science teacher Antonio Gamboa. Antonio is the AP Biology, AP Chemistry and Chemistry teacher at Garey High School in Pomona, California. He previously taught at Castle Park High School in Chula Vista, CA and The Preuss School UCSD in La Jolia, CA. Throughout his teaching career, Antonio has been involved in a wide variety of Professional Learning Experiences including NASA’s Airborn Research Experience for Educators (AREE) in 2013, the American Association of Immunology’s Summer Research Program for Teachers in 2015, and in May of 2016 Antonio was named an Advocate Grant Program recipient from the The Society for Science & the Public. He is currently attending a 6-week nanotechnology research experience at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Antonio holds Masters degrees in Biochemistry from Cal State Fullerton and in Cell and Molecular Pathology from UCSD.

In LOTS Episode I, I sit down with High School Biology Teacher Brian Dempsey.