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Tory
Brady
Paul
Doherty
Karen
Kalumuck
Lori
Lambertson
Eric
Muller
Don
Rathjen
Steve
Ribisi
Anna
Rochester
Linda
Shore
Modesto
Tamez
Blake
Wigdahl
3601
Lyon St.
San Francisco, CA 94123
The
Teacher Institute Web Site
Maintenance and Development:
Eric
Muller
and Deborah
Hunt
©Exploratorium
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Teacher
Institute Staff
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Tory Brady
(Science Educator)
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Tory
Brady
Tory Brady was born in California, went to school
at UC Berkeley, and finds herself still here in the
blue state with the long coastline. She was a
registered nurse before she became a teacher, a
career change she has never regretted! At the
Exploratorium Teacher Institute she works with
teachers, helping to bring Exploratorium activities
into the classroom, and facilitating the mentoring
of new teachers by experienced ones. Tory spends
lots of time up in the Sacramento River delta,
exploring hidden waterways in a rubber boat. She
and her husband have two grown children and two
moody cats.
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Paul Doherty
(Co-Director/Staff Physicist)
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Paul's Web page
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Paul
Doherty
I
am a physicist, teacher, author, and rock climber
with a Ph.D. in solid-state physics from the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1974). As a
tenured professor at Oakland University, I taught a
wide range of science courses, including physics,
astronomy, geology, electronics, computer
programming, and meteorology. In 1986, I came to
the Exploratorium Teacher Institute and began my
exhibit-based explorations in science. As an
author, I have written over two dozen articles for
Exploring magazine, and have co-authored the
Exploratorium Science Snackbook, the
Klutz Book of Magnetic Magic, and the book,
Traces of Time: The Beauty of Change in
Nature. For musical entertainment, I play the
whirly--a corrugated plastic tube. In pursuit of
whirly excellence, I have won several competitions,
including an award as "Best Science Demonstrator"
at the World Congress of Museums in Helsinki in
1996. I recently had fun performing physics
activities on Late Night with David Letterman. I am
about to finish my second decade as a rock climber,
and my second vertical marathon, 26 miles of rock
climbing. In 1994, I led a successful ascent of my
personal best climb: the East Buttress of El
Capitan in Yosemite Valley.
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Karen Kalumuck
(Staff Biologist)
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Karen
E. Kalumuck
A native Ohioan, I earned Ph.D. in Genetics from
Rice University in 1984. I conducted research on
the molecular biology of human genetic disease at
Baylor College of Medicine, then accepted an
assistant professorship at St. Olaf College in
Minnesota, where I learned far more biology than
ever before while teaching developmental biology,
cell biology, genetics, bioethics, and marine
biology. After having lived through the temperature
extremes of Houston and Minneapolis, I decided that
moderation was the way to go, and moved to
California in 1992. By this time I had discovered
that my professional interests focused on science
literacy for the public, which led me to expand my
knowledge and pedagogy base by teaching at Bay area
community colleges. I have been the Biologist with
the Teacher Institute since 1994, enjoying the
challenge of starting the life sciences education
program from scratch and of turning the
inaccessible corners of life sciences into exciting
hands-on learning experiences. I'm the author of
Human Body Explorations the Exploratorium's
first biology activity book, as well as numerous
science articles for general audiences. My
menagerie of four-legged "babies", including a
Vietnamese potbellied pig, provide me endless hours
of entertainment. I love hiking and beachcombing,
and am attempting to learn how to surf (the ocean,
not the Internet!).
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Lori Lambertson
(Math and Science Teacher/New Teacher Program
Coordinator)
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Lori
Lambertson
learned to love science in high school, thanks to
the challenging and exciting class taught by Mr.
Holmes at San Mateo High. I didn't learn to love
math until I became a teacher, and was given a
teaching assignment as a middle school science and
math teacher. Under the wonderful mentorship of
Mary Laycock, I learned not only how to love math,
but how to help students make more meaningful
connections to this much maligned subject. I
describe myself as a math enthusiast, and I am on a
crusade to change people's negative attitudes about
math.
I
took a leave from classroom teaching to become a
Teacher-in-Residence at the Exploratorium Teacher
Institute, which I considered the world's best job.
I am now one of the staff teachers of the Teacher
Institute, where I coordinate our New Teacher
Program. Incidentally, I still have the world's
best job.
As
a lifelong learner, I love new challenges, both in
education and recreation. My latest challenges
include how to meet the NCLB requirements now that
I have discovered that I am not "highly qualified"
to teach math, studying hula, learning to speak
Spanish, and becoming a better surfer. When I'm not
in a classroom or the museum, I'm in the water,
learning more about the ocean on my
surfboard.
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Eric Muller
(Science and Tech Educator)
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Eric's Web page
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Eric
Muller
Eric began his career as a geologist, wandering the
open spaces of the American Southwest. He then
switched into science education over two decades
ago. Eric has taught science and math throughout
the Bay Area and authored several articles for The
Science Teacher, The Physics Teacher and several
museum publications. Besides earning a B.S. in
Earth Science from the University of California and
a Masters in Education from Columbia University, he
has served as a Wright Fellow at Tufts University's
Wright Center for Innovation in Science Education,
and has rafted several dozen rivers with his boat,
Ivan Boat-ski. Between meals, he wrote a book
entitled, "While You're Waiting for the Food to
Come," a book of activities that can be done at
restaurants. Eric also made regular appearances on
NPR's Sounds Like Science radio show as their
"restaurant science commentator."
As
a science educator in the Teacher Institute, Eric
does professional development with experienced and
new teachers and museum staff. He specializes
in Earth Science, Physical Science, Chemistry and
Technology. He occasionally teaches educational
technology classes at local universities as well as
throws balls to his dog Nick and son David.
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Don Rathjen
(Science Educator)
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Don
Rathjen
I've taught physics for over over thirty years --
"since the crust cooled," as I sometimes say -- in
settings including a small college in Liberia, West
Africa, a Turkish high school, and public high
schools in Pleasanton, California, where I retired
from classroom teaching in 1994. I've been working
with science teachers at the Exploratorium since
1985, and was deeply involved in the development of
the Exploratorium Science Snackbook, a
publication that shows teachers how to use simple
materials to build classroom versions of over 100
Exploratorium exhibits. I'm currently working on a
second Snackbook volume, which is now in the
final stages of editing. My interest in using
simple materials to teach physics and physical
science was evident even when our own kids were
young, and used to find their missing toys in dad's
physics lab! In 1983, I began "Physics Day" at
Great America, an amusement park in Santa Clara,
California. This event has grown from 90 students
to over 20,000. Although I'm intrigued by the
physics of roller coasters, when it comes to
actually riding, I admit to being a merry-go-round
kind of guy, and beg off the wild rides pleading
"Certainly it's not fear; it's my inner
ear!"Continuing my lifelong interest in toys, I was
the author of Lego Crazy Action
Contraptions, published by Klutz Press, and am
thoroughly enjoying the experience of having our
grandchildren build science toys with grandpa!
I
received a B.S. in Engineering from Stanford
University and an M.A. in Science Education from
Columbia University. My wife, Ann, and I have lived
in Pleasanton, California since 1964. We are proud
to note that the next generation in our family is
batting 6-for-6 in the teaching league, since our
three children and their three spouses are all
middle school teachers by profession.
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Steve Ribisi
(CILS
Biology Postdoctoral
Fellow)
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Steve
Ribisi
I was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York on 64th
Street just a few blocks from the Bay Parkway dance
studio that was featured in the film Saturday Night
Fever. After 18 years in Brooklyn, I left home for
college at Yale University, from which I graduated
in 1993. After graduation I moved west to be with
the love of my life and to attend graduate school
in molecular and cell biology at the University of
California, Berkeley. While at Berkeley, I
volunteered in the San Francisco public schools
working with teachers to run an after-school
science club for girls and boys. Thanks to my
wonderful experiences in the San Francisco public
schools, by the time my graduate training was
complete, I realized that my true passion was
science education and not science research. Despite
this knowledge of my true nature, I accepted a
position as a laboratory researcher at UCSF after I
received my Ph.D. from Berkeley in May of 2000. I
didn’t quite last a year before a position
became available at SEP and in June of 2001, I
officially launched my career as a science
educator. After two terrific years at SEP, I was
again fortunate and joined the staff of the Teacher
Institute here at the Exploratorium as the CILS
Biology Postdoctoral Fellow. My non-science
education related interests include cooking
(especially Italian, Indian, Thai, and Chinese
cuisine), all things related to science fiction,
tide pools, hiking, and most of all computer gaming
(especially real-time strategy and role playing
games)! I live with my domestic partner of 11 years
and our peacock day gecko. My partner and I are
expecting our first child in early January 2004,
and hopefully our gecko won’t be too
jealous.
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Anna
Rochester
(Program Manager)
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Anna
Rochester
Anna Rochester received a BA in Art Education in
1990, from the University of Oregon, and co-founded
a small private school in Eugene from 1990-1996.
Her MA was awarded in 2002 in the same field, from
the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
From 1997 to 2001 she ran teacher and family
programs at the Oriental Institute Museum at the
University of Chicago. From 2001 to 2003, Anna
worked as the Teacher Services Manager at the John
G. Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. She moved back
to the west coast in 2003 to take a Program Manager
position at the San Francisco Exploratorium's
Teacher Institute, which she describes as "her
dream job."
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Linda Shore
(Director and Staff Physicist)
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Linda's Web page
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Linda
Shore
I was born, raised, and educated in San Francisco.
While taking an undergraduate astronomy course
(because a friend said it was "easy"), I discovered
my interest in physics and astronomy. I abandoned
my major in broadcasting and earned a master's
degree in physics from San Francisco State
University. While there, I discovered my love for
teaching. I was the youngest person in the
California State University system ever to teach
lecture sections of pre-med physics. In 1986, I
moved to Massachusetts to study science education
at Boston University. While in Boston, I married my
husband John, conducted educational research at the
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, taught
astronomy at Boston University, evaluated
educational software, helped design a high school
curriculum on fractals in nature, and earned my
doctorate in Science Education. After eight years,
my husband and I got sick of the humid summers, icy
winters, and crazy drivers. I returned to San
Francisco and joined the Exploratorium in 1993,
where I am now director of the Teacher Institute. I
am also a co-author of The Science Explorer, a
series of Exploratorium activity books for children
and their parents. When not at the museum, I teach
graduate courses in educational technology at the
University of San Francisco and write science
fiction short stories.
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Modesto Tamez
(Science Educator)
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Modesto
Tamez
Modesto Tamez has spent the last twenty five years
in education; the first 18 years working in the
classroom with levels K-12 in Spanish and English
with an emphasis in teaching science . The last
seven years he has been working with the
Exloratorium in San Francisco and San Francisco
State University, helping teachers integrate hands
on science into their curriculum. Modesto was also
director for an NSF supported program to help
establish after school science programs through out
the state of California.
He
is currently coordinating a mentor program, placing
experienced teachers in middle school and high
school classrooms to help first and second year
science teachers. For the last four years, he has
been teaching an elementary science methods course
in a non traditional intern program at John Muir
Elementary School run by San Francisco State
University.
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Blake Wigdahl
(Project Coordinator)
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Blake
Wigdahl
Raised
in Salt Lake City, Utah, I became an avid
fisherman, skier, camper, and outdoorsman.
Following my interests in archaeology, I earned a
Bachelors of Science in Anthropology from Montana
State University. While in Montana, I worked
for several years at the Museum of the Rockies as
the Education Coordinator. I discovered the
Exploratorium while at the Museum of the Rockies.
In September 2003, I moved to the Bay Area so I
could work on my Masters in Museum Studies at John
F. Kennedy University.
As
Project Coordinator, I am excited to be helping
support math and science teachers gain access to
Exploratorium resources.
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