NCSE board members Maya Garcia, left, and Jo Handelsman.
NCSE is pleased to announce the addition of Maya Garcia, the Science and STEM Specialist for the Colorado Department of Education, to its board of directors. A former classroom science teacher, Garcia previously served as the director of STEM for the District of Columbia Office of the State Superintendent of Education, where she was instrumental in the adoption and implementation of the Next Generation Science Standards. She has served as the president of the DC Science Teachers Association and has received a Fulbright Distinguished Teaching Award. She also serves on the National Academies Board on Science Education.
NCSE is also pleased to announce the addition of Jo Handelsman, Director of the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she is also a Vilas Research Professor and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor, to its board of directors. Handelsman also served as Associate Director for Science in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy from 2014 to 2017. She has been deeply involved in efforts to improve undergraduate science education, gender equity in science, and junior faculty mentoring. "I look forward to helping advance NCSE's crucial work," Handelsman remarked.
On NCSE's board of directors Garcia and Handelsman join president Kenneth R. Miller, secretary Benjamin D. Santer, treasurer Michael Haas, Vicki Chandler, Sarah George, Joseph L. Graves Jr., Michael B. Lubic, Michael E. Mann, and Naomi Oreskes. At the same time, Barry Polisky, a molecular biology researcher, departed, having served on the board since 2016. "We're grateful to Barry Polisky for his years of service," NCSE's executive director Ann Reid commented. "But we are delighted to welcome Maya Garcia and Jo Handelsman, with their depth of experience and expertise, to the board."
