Education:

I am a proud alumnus of Westminster College in New Wilmington, PA where I earned my Bachelor of Science in Chemistry.  I am also proud to call Purdue University my alma mater, getting my Ph.D there in Chemistry/Chemistry Education.

Courses taught:

My primary teaching focus is General Chemistry.  I currently am in charge of the CHEM 105/105L courses (General Chemistry I lecture and laboratory).  I teach at least one section of each of those courses every semester.  In addition, I am usually involved with CHEM 106L (General Chemistry II laboratory) each spring semester and will often teach CHEM 106 and 106L each summer.  I am also in charge of the Chemistry of Hazardous Materials course (CHEM 120/120L) where we focus on hazardous materials and their use, transportation, and impacts.

I am also in charge of the Science Education program here at Vincennes University.  Students who want to become science teachers (in particular those studying life sciences/biology, earth and space science, chemistry, and physics) work with me to learn about how to be a teacher and how to be successful in the classroom.  I am responsible for the advising of those students as well as teaching them science methods and pedagogy in EDUC 431 (Science Methods I), EDUC 432 (Science Methods II), and EDUC 433 (Special Topics in Science Education).  In addition to being a teacher of teachers, I am also involved in the student teaching process with these future teachers, serving as their university supervisor for the Capstone course and their Student Teaching experiences.

Activities: 

As a member of the faculty of Vincennes University, I have served the VU community in a number of ways.  I have served the faculty on the University Senate on a number of occasions and am currently serving my fourth term as a Senator representing the College of Science, Engineering, and Mathematics.  I am also a former club advisor to both the Chemistry Club and the Ultimate Frisbee club (both currently defunct).  I have also worked on a number of occasions with students, participating in the our College's Science Fridays as well as the Chemistry Department's High School Lab Days outreach events.  Last year, I worked with several colleagues to put together a Chemistry Day for local homeschool groups to introduce them to science at VU and to raise awareness for our programs and opportunities for homeschooled students and families.  Finally, I am a yearly participant in our Chemistry Department's Lab Coat ceremony where we award lab coats to our outgoing graduates who have completed our chemistry major courses.

Other Service:

For the past ten years, I have worked closely with the Education Department and the College of Social Sciences, Performing Arts, and Communication on maintaining accreditation for the Education Program.  My duties in this realm started with winning national recognition for the Science Education program by the National Science Teaching Association (NSTA) in 2014 and progressed to helping the Education Department as a whole with accreditation and reporting in 2016.  Since then, I have worked with other faculty and administrators to get the Science Education program recognized by the NSTA again in 2017, to get the Education Program recognized with conditions by Council for Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) in 2019 and full recognition by CAEP in 2021.  Our programs will be submitting paperwork for reaffirmation of accreditation by CAEP in May 2025 with an accreditation visit to come in 2026.