Dr. Koshi Dhingra

Koshi Dhingra received an undergraduate degree from the National University of Singapore and a Doctorate in Science Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. Her research focused on connecting formal and informal educational opportunities for over 20 years. She has years of experience teaching at the middle and high school levels, and in teacher education programs. She previously served as a director of the Science and Engineering Education Center at the University of Texas at Dallas. Following this, she founded talkSTEM in Spring, 2015.

Dr. Glen Whitney

Glen Whitney is walkSTEM Program Advisor for talkSTEM. He is passionate about every aspect of public mathematics – engagement, appreciation, and informal learning. Whitney studied mathematical logic for his Ph.D. (UCLA 1994). He served on the faculty of the University of Michigan and subsequently became an applied mathematician at the quantitative hedge fund, Renaissance Technologies. In 2008, he left Renaissance and founded the National Museum of Mathematics in New York City. To help generate enthusiasm for the museum, Whitney led his first math walk in 2009, and has been creating new ones ever since. The museum opened its doors to the public in December 2012 and has welcomed over a million visitors. Whitney has continued his work both in public mathematics engagement and in the museum world since then, spending time as visiting faculty at Harvard, ICERM, and the Museum of Food and Drink. Lately, his scholarly interests have been in algebra related to knot theory, with two recent publications on quandles.

Benjamin Feinstein

Benjamin Feinstein is an editor and graphic designer with over eight years of professional experience, as well as a Neuroscience graduate of Middlebury College specializing in color perception and sensory integration. He enjoys exploring the intersections of art and science, and observing how each can be informed and expanded upon by the other. To view more of his freelance graphic work, visit benjaminfeinstein.myportfolio.com.

Sara Miranda

Sara Miranda has been marketing good causes like talkSTEM for over 13 years and helps us with communications and community building including social media, website content, partnership assistance and public relations. When she’s not hard at work here, you’ll find her meditating, doing yoga, outdoors with her dog Molly, or running her own small-but-mighty marketing agency called The Good Camp. She holds an MBA in Digital Marketing and Innovation from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Jenn Savage

Jenn Savage holds a B.F.A. in Advertising Design from the Art Institute of Dallas, where she also worked as a mathematics tutor to encourage students to understand and enjoy the intersections of math and art. She began work as a freelance graphic designer in 2010, and has worked with many clients in the non-profit sector over the course of her career. Jenn owns Awkward Robot, a visual design studio.

Xandy Smith

Xandy sees the world through a viewfinder, and one with a STEM lens. A lover of science (especially paleontology) and with a background in illustration and graphic design, film is a perfect blend of technology and organic creativity. He’s both born and married into a family of teachers—his mother, wife, mother-in-law, the list goes on—and with credentials from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, education and art is clearly a passion. He is excited to bring his professional experience in high-end commercial and narrative filmmaking to the many facets of talkSTEM.

Julie McLaughlin

Julie McLaughlin is a freelance illustrator whose work includes commissions for editorial, advertising, and publishing clients from around the world. Her works have been nominated for several awards, including the Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children’s Non-Fiction, which she won for Why We Live Where We Live by Kira Vermond in 2015. Julie grew up on the prairies and now resides in Victoria, BC, Canada. You can view the maps that Julie created for talkSTEM here.

For more information visit www.whatwouldjuliedraw.com.

Morgan Merriman

Morgan Merriman is currently the AP Chemistry and IB Chemistry teacher at Woodrow Wilson High School in Dallas, TX. She holds her Bachelor’s Degree in Biology (Neurobiology) from the University of Texas at Austin and her Master’s Degree in Biomedical Sciences (Neuroscience) from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. Her focus in education is preparing underrepresented minorities for challenging academic careers. She has also become an advocate for making science communication more accessible to increase overall science literacy.

Eric Walters

Eric Walters serves as the Director of STEM Education at Marymount School of New York, where he teaches AP Physics C: Mechanics, Honors Physics, Atmospheric Science, and iOS App Development.  An Apple Distinguished Educator and a Google Certified Educator, Eric has infused talkSTEM into his AP Physics C curriculum as part of the AP with WE Service Learning project. Read his talkSTEM blog here.

Candy Gwyn

Candy Gwyn has taught at Montessori schools for ten years and had an earlier career as a peace advocate and community builder.   She has a BA in Psychology and Cultural Anthropology from the University of North Carolina, Asheville, did graduate studies in Anthropology at Emory University, and is currently working on her Master of Education with a concentration in math at SMU. Growing up in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, Ms. Gwyn developed a deep love of the outdoors and shares her enthusiasm for the wonders of nature and her commitment to environmental stewardship with her students. Watch her walkSTEM tour here.

Mary Nunley

Mary Nunley has 8 years of experience teaching high school mathematics in both traditional-public and public-charter high schools. She is the founding math teacher at CityLab High School in Dallas ISD. She entered the teaching profession as a 2012 Dallas-Fort Worth Teach for America corps member after graduating from Lehigh University with dual degrees in Civil Engineering and Architecture.

Tamasha Dickens-Govan

Tamasha Dickens-Govan is a 15-year math education professional.  Mrs. Govan works to create an aligned campus-wide mathematics plan that includes helping teachers and students make curriculum connections, monitoring and evaluating campus goals and sparking a love of math in the world around us. Watch her in this walkSTEM video.

Trevelyn Everitt-Gyure

Trevelyn Everitt-Gyure is an experienced educator who has spent most of her career working in urban school systems.  She holds a B.S. from Sam Houston State University, MBA from Amberton University and a M.Ed. from the University of Texas at Arlington.  Additionally, she is very committed to working with educators from various areas and academic levels to improve teaching practices for the 21st century learner. Read her talkSTEM blog post here.

Brea Ratliff

Brea Ratliff holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics Education from Baylor University and a Masters in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from The University of Texas at Arlington. She is currently a Ph.D. fellow at Auburn University, pursuing a degree in secondary mathematics education. Brea has taught mathematics at the elementary, middle and high school levels, been a K-12 district curriculum supervisor and has written mathematics curricula for Dallas ISD, the State Fair of Texas and the Dallas Cowboys organizations. She is the founder and Educational Strategist of Me to the Power of Three, LLC, a consulting company which creates tools and resources for K-12 learning.

Rachel Fuhrman

Rachel is currently a high school special education math teacher in New Orleans, Louisiana. She recently earned her Master of Science in Education Studies from the Johns Hopkins University School of Education. She is passionate about improving educational equity and strives to serve traditionally underserved communities. Read her talkSTEM blog here.

Soraya Gollop

Soraya Gollop comes from a higher education background with a Ph.D. in philosophy. She has also worked in K-12 education on extra-curricular programs, parent education, and bringing volunteers into schools. She believes in the value of exciting people about STEM in the world all around us. You can watch her talkSTEM video blog here.

Nupur Israni

Nupur Israni holds an undergraduate degree in Biology and Chemistry from McMaster University and a Master of Teaching (MT) from University of Toronto OISE (Ontario Institute for Studies in Education). She has over 10 years of teaching experience in public and independent schools. She has taught various middle and upper school science classes in Toronto, New York City and Dallas. She is also a Yoga teacher and currently lives in Dallas.

Maisa De Oliveira

Maisa C. De Oliveira  is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Biological Sciences at the Center of Drug Discovery, Design and Delivery, Southern Methodist University. Her research focuses on biochemical assays for the discovery of a new drug to assist with cancer therapy. She earned her B.Sc. in Biological Sciences from Mackenzie Presbyterian University, in Sao Paolo, Brazil.  Maisa was also a science teacher before her move to Dallas and she plans to continue her career in science education and communication. You can read about her research in her section of talkSTEM’s Growing Lab Girls curriculum.

Samantha Johnson

Samantha Johnson is a Ph.D Candidate in Biomedical Sciences at University of Texas Southwestern. She is originally from South Florida and has been volunteering in science communication since high school Chem Club.  She is currently studying RNA interference and trinucleotide repeat diseases.  Watch her walkSTEM@Work videos here.

Amruta Sakalker

Amruta Sakalker is a doctoral student in Urban Planning and Public Policy and a Graduate Researcher at the Institute of Urban Studies at UT Arlington. She is a co-author for one of the ten prestigious Lincoln Institute of Land Policy Case Study Awards, 2020. Amruta holds a Master’s in Architecture from Pennsylvania State University with a graduate fellowship for her research. In her free time, Amruta loves exploring the trails and creeks around the Trinity river, with her two and a half year old. You can watch her in several walkSTEM videos in the walkSTEM@Love Field Airport playlist, which she helped us create content for.

Teija Lane

Teija Laine is from Finland where she is a teacher, working mainly with 10-13 year old students in grades 3-6 in the Finnish education system. She is also working in the University of Turku, where she has been developing and training teachers to teach math using varied teaching strategies for several years. Her main interests are problem based learning and the development of student thinking skills in order to foster mental flexibility and creativity. For several years, she has focused on the project of developing math word problems so that they are meaningful to students and using everyday math in writing and solving problems. This project includes problem solving skills such as problem analysis and representation using modeling or visuals.

A large number of Teija’s students have been immigrants for several years. This has emphasized the importance, for Teija, of ensuring that all math problems she assigns are relevant and accessible by all students. Here is her team’s flexible math site (in Finnish) and here is their Facebook page.