Speaker Bios
Dr. reginald blake
Dr. Reginald A. Blake is an Associate Professor of Physics at New York City College of Technology, CUNY. He is a geo-physicist and awater resources engineer who has a rich and extensive background in hydro-climatology, climatology, climate change impacts, hydrology, meteorology, physical oceanography, and airpollution. His research involves theapplication of satellite and ground-based remote sensing to the study of hydro-climate, hurricanes, and air pollution. He conducts his remote sensing research at NOAA-CREST, the premier remote sensing research facility in thenortheastern U.S. In 2008, he was named to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s newly formed13-member panel of scientific experts who are responsible for providing the climate change science that will underpinNew York City’s climate change policy for decades to come. Dr. Blake conducts his climate change research at Columbia University’s NASA/Goddard Institute for Space Studies. Additionally, he is the Director of the STEM-based Black Male Initiative (BMI) Program at the New York City College of Technology. Service learning is a vibrant component of the BMI program. |
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Dr. Pa Her
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Dr. Karin Block received her Ph.D. in Earth and Environmental Sciences from the CUNY Graduate Center in 2006. She went on to work as postdoctoral research scientist and later as associate research scientist at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University developing cyberinfrastructure for geochemistry research and education. She returned to CUNY as Assistant Professor of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at The City College of New York in 2009 and was awarded in her first year of service an NSF-CCLI/TUES grant to develop a curriculum and software that utilizes cyberinfrastructure to facilitate teaching, learning and collaborative learning. Her research spans environmental and solid earth geochemistry, including research on the role of minerals in facilitating gene transfer among microorganisms and on the production of composite granophyres during protracted crystallization in basaltic intrusions.
Sarah Bonner is an Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Foundations and Counseling Programs at Hunter College, City University of New York. She specializes in educational assessment and measurement, research methods, and program evaluation. She is currently head of research for a large NSF-funded project, the MSPinNYC2. She teaches and provides professional development for teachers about pedagogical methods related to quality classroom assessment. Her research interests include the study of how beliefs and skills of classroom teachers relate to their assessment practices, and the study of cognitive and metacognitive processes examinees use to solve test problems in different content areas. She has published empirical articles in top-tiered journals and is author of the chapter on validity in the recently published Sage Handbook of Research on Classroom Assessment.
Dr. Pamela Brown, a chemical engineer, is the Associate Provost at New York City College of Technology, where she supports accreditation and program review, articulation agreements, undergraduate education and faculty professional development. Prior to this she served for six years as Dean of the School of Arts & Sciences. During the 2011-12 academic year, Dr. Brown was tapped by the National Science Foundation to serve as a program director in the Division of Undergraduate Education. Her responsibilities there included oversight of the proposal review process, funding recommendations and outreach to the larger scientific community. Dr. Brown has published in several educational journals. She has a PhD in chemical engineering from NYU-Polytechnic University, an SM in Chemical Engineering Practice from MIT and a BS in Chemistry from SUNY Albany.
Dr. Good is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Baruch College. She has a master’s degree in mathematics from the University of Kansas an Interdisciplinary Ph.D. in mathematics education and social psychology from The University of Texas at Austin. Her research focuses on the social forces that shape academic achievement, learning, motivation, and self-image, particularly for females in STEM disciplines. In particular, she studies the effects of stereotype threat and develops interventions to help students overcome its effects. 
Dr. Pa Her is a developmental psychologist and an Assistant Professor at New York City College of Technology. Prior to City Tech, Dr. Her worked as a research analyst for the Windwalker Corporation on the rigorous evaluation of the Magnet School Assistance Program for the Proviso Township and the Pathways to Mathematics Achievement study. Dr. Her has extensive experience with quantitative and qualitative research methods, evaluation and survey design. Currently, she is the faculty grants liaison in the Office of Sponsored Programs where she assists in outreach to faculty and proposal development,including the application of prevailing social science theories and methodologies. Her research interests are in social-emotional development, self-efficacy and coping. Dr. Her received her Ph.D. in Developmental and Biological Psychology from Virginia Tech.
Robin G. Isserles is Associate Professor of Sociology at the Borough of Manhattan Community College, CUNY. She is currently on leave to serve as Project Director of the CUNY Research Project on Academic Momentum. A central part of this research is conducting Randomized Control Trial Experiments to analyze the effects of early interventions on retention and graduation rates of first year community college students. Her own research interests include the Sociology of Teaching and Learning, with a particular focus on distance learning instruction and pedagogy. She is writing an article on developing a “culture of learning” in an online class, drawing on an analysis of her students’ discussion board writings.
Farida Lada is the University Director for Research Compliance. In this new role, Ms. Lada directs and manages all University programs related to the responsible conduct of research, including overseeing the newly restructured CUNY integrated Institutional Review Boards (IRBs). Farida comes to CUNY with extensive experience in research compliance having held the position of Director of Research Compliance at Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar, and prior to that was Assistant Director of Human Subjects Research at the University of California, Los Angeles. She has a B.S. in Biology from the University of Texas, Arlington, and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Louisville. Farida is working toward a PhD from the Maastricht Graduate School of Governance. She is also a Certified Institutional Review Board Professional.
Dr. Laurie Rubel earned a B.Sc. degree (with departmental honors) in Mathematics at Haverford College, an M.A. (with honors) in Mathematics Education at Tel Aviv University, and a M.Phil and Ph.D. in Research in Mathematics Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. In 2002-2003, she was a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, as part of the Diversity in Mathematics Education Center for Learning and Teaching. Before coming to teach in Brooklyn College's matheatics education program, Dr. Rubel taught high school mathematics, statistics, and computer science for nine years in Manhattan and in Tel Aviv. She chaired both schools' mathematics departments and enjoys mentoring and collaborating with teachers. Her research interests include probabilistic thinking, teacher eduation, diversity and equity in mathematics education, and the use of real-world urban contexts in the teaching of mathematics. Dr. Rubel received the Knowles Young Scholar Award in 2006, the Brooklyn College Excellence in Teaching Award in 2007, an Early Career Award from the National Science Foundation in 2008, and this year she was awarded another NSF grant for a project entitled Learning Mathematics of the City in the City.
Colleen Sommo is a Senior Research Associate at MDRC. She serves as the lead data manager for the Young Adults and Postsecondary Education policy area. In this role, she contributes to the strategic planning of all tasks that involve quantitative data, investigates new data sources, trains technical staff, and develops and implements cross-project standards and procedures to ensure data quality and compliance with data security procedures. She is currently serving as the project director and data manager for the Opening Doors Long-Term Effects and Cost Study and as the data manager for both the Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) evaluation and the Completion by Design evaluation. Sommo has extensive experience with higher education school records and survey data and has managed data collection and analysis activities for nearly a decade. She has coauthored several MDRC reports, focusing on the impact of higher education studies, and holds an M.S. in education.