NY STEAM Kick Off Conference

Speaker Biographies

NY STEAM Girls Collaborative Co-Leads

 

Jennifer Goodall, Director of the College of Computing and Information Women in Technology Program and Director of the Informatics Undergraduate Program – University at Albany & NY STEAM Girls Collaborative Co-Leader  Jennifer Goodall is the Director of the College of Computing and Information Women in Technology program and Director of the Informatics Undergraduate program at the University at Albany. Dr. Goodall builds community among current students and does a variety of outreach activities with collaborators including Junior FIRST Lego League Expo for 6-9 year olds, the Social Robotics Workshop for middle and high school students, Digigirlz for high school girls, and many events for college and university students, including co-hosting the New York Celebration of Women in Computing. She works closely with the women students in the College to develop a stronger community and sense of belonging. Jennifer is the Co-lead for the NY STEAM Girls Collaborative, bringing organizations around New York State together to do to more collaboratively than we can on our own.

 

Stephanie Lemnios, Informal STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) Education Consultant & NY STEAM Girls Collaborative Co-Leader Stephanie Lemnios is the Co-Lead of the NY STEAM Girls Collaborative. She is an accomplished and innovative Informal STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) Education specialist with a proven track record developing K-12 informal science education programs for both national and regional nonprofit organizations. Experienced in all aspects of launching new programs from concept to final implementation including overall program strategy, outreach, developing activities, building partnerships, and branding. The essence of her consulting business is based on her passion for providing youth with opportunities that help them explore their potential through STEM focused programs. She moved to New York from Washington DC in 2013.  

 

 

Welcome

 

Penny Hill, Associate Dean – Hudson Valley Community College (HVCC) Training and Education Center for Semiconductor Manufacturing and Alternative and Renewable Technologies (TEC-SMART) & NY STEAM Leadership Team Member Penny Hill is a seasoned professional in the fields of workforce development and marketing. Her specialty is creating and implementing workforce development programs in anticipation of the needs. In addition, Penny collaborates with Ballston Spa Central School District on the Clean Technologies & Sustainable Industries Early College High School. Penny is very passionate about inspiring girls to pursue STEM careers. She serves on the NY STEAM Leadership Team and HVCC hosted two Girls in STEM events at TEC-SMART that had girls energized about STEM. Professional organizations include Career and Technical Advisories, Economic Development initiatives including START-UP NY for the college and the Saratoga County Prosperity Partnership.  

National Girls Collaborative Overview

 

Karen A. Peterson, Chief Executive Officer – National Girls Collaborative and Principal Investigator (PI) – National Girls Collaborative Project (NGCP)  Karen A. Peterson is the Chief Executive Officer for the National Girls Collaborative and Principal Investigator (PI) for the National Girls Collaborative Project (NGCP). The NGCP seeks to maximize access to shared resources for organizations interested in expanding girls’ participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Funded primarily by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the overarching goal of the NGCP is to use the leverage of a network or collaboration of individual girl-serving STEM programs to create the tipping point for gender equity in STEM. Currently, 31 Collaboratives, serving 39 states, facilitate collaboration between 12,800 organizations who serve 8.5 million girls and 4.9 million boys. Peterson is also Co-PI for the NSF-funded ITEST Learning Resource Center, Citizen SciGirls, SciGirls CONNECT, and Build IT Scale Up projects. These projects address gender, racial and socioeconomic underrepresentation in STEM fields. She has published in The Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering and CBE Life Sciences Education, a journal published by the American Society for Cell Biology. In 2013, Peterson was profiled in STEMConnector’s™ 100 Women Leaders in STEM publication. She has over 25 years of experience in education as a classroom teacher, university instructor, teacher educator, program administrator, and researcher.

 

 

Keynote – Mainstreaming STEM

 

Francine Berman, Hamilton Distinguished Professor of Computer Science – Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI)  Dr. Francine Berman is the Hamilton Distinguished Professor of Computer Science at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a national leader in research data stewardship and preservation. She is a Fellow of the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM) and a Fellow of the IEEE. In 2009, Dr. Berman was the inaugural recipient of the ACM/IEEE-CS Ken Kennedy Award for "influential leadership in the design, development, and deployment of national-scale cyberinfrastructure." She was formerly the head of the San Diego Supercomputer Center, a national center focused on high performance computing and data-driven infrastructure and applications. Dr. Berman currently serves as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology, the group that sponsors the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing.  

 

Hands on STEAM – SciGirls Style

 

Nancy L. Coddington, Community Outreach Coordinator and Certified National PBS SciGirls Trainer at WSKG Public Media & NY STEAM Leadership Team Member Nancy L. Coddington has shown a resolute conviction to advancing the STEM movement throughout the state of New York and nationally. For 15 years, Nancy has participated in the STEM movement as a convener – bringing experts together to encourage dialogue and mobilize communities. She is adept at organizing coalitions, museum education programs, educator professional development modules and community outreach activities. Ms. Coddington currently holds the position of Community Outreach Coordinator and Certified National PBS SciGirls Trainer at WSKG Public Media, a dynamic public media institution located in the heart of Upstate New York. During her time at WSKG, she successfully led a STEM-focused community needs assessment that reflected the existing and emerging STEM landscape of the 21 counties served by the station. Nancy co-produced two, half-hour documentaries, Assembly Required and Everglades: Ecology and most recently interviewed Dr. Scott Sampson, Paleontologist and well known television personality on the award- winning PBS children’s show, Dinosaur Train.