Barbara M. Moskal

Guest Editor for this issue of MRS Bulletin

Department of Mathematical and Computer Sciences, Colorado School of Mines, 1500 Illinois St., Golden, CO 80401, USA; tel. 303-273-3867; and e-mail [email protected].

Moskal is a professor of mathematical and computer sciences, director of the Center for Assessment in STEM, interim director of the Trefny Institute for Educational Innovation, and director of Education and Outreach for the Renewable Energy Materials Research Science and Engineering Center at the Colorado School of Mines. She also is an associate editor for the Journal of Engineering Education. She received her MA degree in mathematics and her EdD degree in mathematics education with a minor in quantitative research methodology from the University of Pittsburgh. Moskal’s research area is student assessment, K–12 outreach, and gender issues.

Laura Kosbar

Guest Editor for this issue of MRS Bulletin

IBM T.J. Watson Research Center, PO Box 218, Yorktown Heights, NY 10598, USA; and e-mail [email protected].

Kosbar is a researcher at IBM’s T.J. Watson Research Center, where her research has included lithographic resists, incorporation of bio-based raw materials, liquid crystal displays, self-assembling structures, and solar cells. She received her PhD degree in chemistry from Stanford University. She has been active in IBM’s various K–12 outreach programs, and while she was a visiting professor at the Colorado School of Mines, Kosbar developed and implemented hands-on programs in middle school classrooms.

Paul Doherty

Exploratorium Teacher Institute, San Francisco, CA, USA; and e-mail [email protected].

Doherty is a senior staff scientist and co-director of the Teacher Institute at the Exploratorium, where he uses materials science to help create science exhibits and shows high school physics teachers how to make science relevant and interesting. He received his PhD degree in solid-state physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1974 and was a professor of physics at Oakland University for 12 years. Doherty is co-author of a half dozen science books, including Explorabook and the Exploratorium Science Snackbook. In 2003, he received the Faraday award for excellence as a science communicator from the National Science Teachers Association.

Linda Lung

National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO, USA; and e-mail [email protected].

Lung has managed the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s (NREL) education programs for more than 18 years and is a founding Department of Energy science education staff member. She has an extensive background in the planning, management, and implementation of undergraduate and teacher research programs, teacher professional development programs, the Science Bowl, and the Faculty and Student Teams (FaST) programs at NREL. Lung is very involved in the science community and is on education boards and advisory councils for several organizations.

Eric D. Marshall

1051 Dobbs Ferry Rd., White Plains, NY 10607, USA; tel. 914-774-2676; and e-mail [email protected].

Marshall investigates solar cells at the IBM T.J. Watson Research Center and consults for the Materials Research Society to support researcher-informal science education partnerships for the Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network (NISENet). He introduces multicomponent systems in both the physical materials world and in the social domain of education. With a PhD degree in applied physics from the University of California, San Diego, and graduate work in education, Marshall has been a research staff member at IBM, curator of the Creative World at the California Science Center, and vice president of Strategic Partnerships and Innovation and director of TryScience.org at the New York Hall of Science.

Julie A. Nucci

Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA; and e-mail [email protected].

Nucci is an adjunct professor of materials science and engineering at Cornell University and director of the Center for Nanoscale Systems (CNS) Institute for Physics Teachers (CIPT). The CIPT is an education and outreach program of the CNS at Cornell. She received her PhD degree in materials science and engineering from Cornell University and spent seven years at the Max-Planck Institute for Metals Research. Nucci is currently developing and providing science teacher professional development programs and innovative, inquiry-based lab activities for K–12 science students.

Irene Polycarpou

Department of Mathematical and Computer Sciences, Colorado School of Mines, 1500 Illinois St., Golden, CO 80401, USA; tel. 303-273-3462; and e-mail [email protected].

Polycarpou is an assistant professor of mathematical and computer sciences at the Colorado School of Mines. She received her PhD degree in computer science from Florida International University. Among her research interests are instructional software, educational technologies, participatory software design, and K–12 education.

Teri Reed-Rhoads

College of Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA; tel. 765-494-4966; and e-mail [email protected].

Reed-Rhoads is assistant dean of engineering for undergraduate education, associate professor in the School of Engineering Education, and director of the First-Year Engineering Program at Purdue University. She received her BS degree in petroleum engineering from the University of Oklahoma and spent seven years in the petroleum industry, during which time she earned her MBA degree. Reed-Rhoads subsequently received her PhD degree in industrial engineering from Arizona State University. Her research interests include statistics education, concept inventory development, assessment/evaluation of learning and programs, recruitment and retention, diversity, and equity.

Nev Singhota

Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA; and e-mail [email protected].

Singhota is the director for the educational programs for the Cornell Center for Materials Research (CCMR). She is a doctoral candidate in the Cornell Department of Education. With CCMR, she works with faculty to develop and organize K–12 materials science programs. The CCMR’s partnerships include Cornell Weill Medical College, Norfolk State University, Tuskegee University, and the University of Puerto Rico. During the summer, the CCMR hosts Research Experience for Undergraduates and Teachers, and the Institute for Chemistry Teachers. CCMR collaborates with Professor William Trochim’s National Science Foundation’s Research and Evaluation on Education in Science and Engineering grant.

Greta M. Zenner Petersen

UW MRSEC, 1550 Engineering Dr., Madison, WI 53706, USA; tel. 608-890-2268; and e-mail [email protected].

Zenner Petersen is the education director of the Materials Science Research and Engineering Center at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. She received an MPhil degree in history and philosophy of science from Cambridge University, and an MA degree in history of science from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Her current work involves collaborating with scientists, engineers, and educators to create nanotechnology and materials science education materials, including curriculum, museum prototypes, kits, table-top demonstrations, websites, and programs.