Staff

B. L. Ramakrishna, Ph.D.  

My research interests are in two areas -1) Biomineralization, and 2) Science Education. The problems in Biomineralization that we are interested in lie at the crossroads of Biology and Materials Science & Engineering. We investigate biological supramolecular assemblies such as proteins, membranes, and DNA that are capable of incorporating inorganic solids and precisely control their size, shape, and orientation at the nanometer scale. The work will lead to understanding the design principles behind the synthesis of biominerals by a variety of living systems such as plants, fungi and microbes. These are not only fascinating from the fundamental point of view but also have many potential applications. Specifically, in the area of environmental nanobiotechnology, the interest is to investigate the sequestration of heavy metals such as cadmium, copper and lead by plants and microbes with the final goal being the potential applications in bioremediation, prospecting and mining in Arizona as well as for nanosensors. I am committed to bring about innovations in science education by infusion of cutting-edge research through student-scientist partnerships, visualization based technologies, and leading-edge telecommunications. I am exploring mechanisms and methodologies to forge sustainable partnerships between graduate education and K-12 science classrooms and studying their impact on reforming graduate education. I am investigating the knowledge and attitudes of teachers, at the secondary school and college levels, about the challenges and opportunities that nanotechnology presents in revitalizing math and science education in both the formal and informal arena. I am also interested to explore issues concerning public understanding of nanotechnology and the role of various media in shaping the views of the public.

 Jan Snyder Ed.D. 

Prior to my position as Manager of the ASU GK-12 Project, I spent 23 years as a high school biology teacher in the Phoenix Union High School District. Throughout most of my tenure as a science teacher, I continued to enroll in coursework at ASU and completed my doctorate in 2004. The focus of my professional interests, and research, has continued to be in Science Education with an emphasis on gender-by-ethnic equity. On a global scale, females and minorities do not typically receive equal opportunities in the science classroom.

Having traveled through approximately 25 countries around the World, I have personally witnessed the negative effects of gender and ethnic equity issues related to education as well as other social infrastructures. In developing and pre-developing countries, this issue is typically pervasive and effectively maintains the status quo for the majority of the people who live under extreme poverty.

Over the past few years, this interests in equity issues has included work in the south Central African Country of Malawi where I, together with my Wife, Clarice, have worked on a variety of projects.

Since I began my work with the ASU GK-12 Project, most of my effort and interest has been involved with the development of inquiry-based instructional training and implementation with our fellows and teacher/partners. Throughout the years as a science teacher, I involved myself with development and implementation of inquiry-based science instruction in both mainstream classes and those for second language learners. I have also taught university classes, for pre-service teachers, that focus on inquiry-based instruction as well as learning for understanding.

Through the GK-12 Project, this focus on inquiry-based instruction has provided opportunities to work both on the domestic and international scale with projects in Taiwan and Japan along with the work being carried out in the Phoenix Metropolitan area.

With this professional background, I hope to provide sound academic experiences for the GK-12 fellows, teachers and their students. We have, within the structure of the GK-12 Project, a win (students)-win (fellows)-win (teachers) situation with which I am honored and pleased to participate.