I started my teaching career when I served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Guinea, where I taught math at a local high school. After getting my Ph.D. in geophysics, I decided to return to teaching and have been teaching at international schools since 2008. I have primarily taught IB Physics and integrated science at the high school level, although I have a few years of experience teaching middle school as well. I took my first Modeling workshop in 2018 and have been committed to using Modeling in all science classes since then. I am currently living in Curitiba, Brazil, where, in addition to teaching, I am the Head of the Science Department and the IB Coordinator. I will be moving to Basel, Switzerland in July, where I will continue to teach.
Taking my first Modeling workshop not only opened up a whole new method of teaching, but it also helped my find a community of like-minded teachers. Particularly as someone who lives outside of the US, opportunities for quality professional development in the sciences are few and far between. I have benefitted greatly from all of the opportunities that AMTA has offered and now, I would like to help give back. In November 2023, I organized and co-led an Introduction to Modeling workshop for teachers in South America. In the past few years, I have been working with Sheri Gates and Francis Maginn to start a ‘local’ STEM teachers organization set up for teachers outside of the US. We have hosted monthly meet-ups and also run some online sessions geared to people outside of American time zones. While progress has been slow, it is clear that there is interest out there and I think it would be great to try and expand the reach of the AMTA beyond the US. The AMTA is a wonderful organization and I would really like to explore how to make the organization more visible and how to make workshops more accessible, by continuing to offer more online opportunities. Additionally, I would like to explore how to get people to remain involved with AMTA after taking a workshop.