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Joyce Raia Blueford, Ph. D.
Geologist, Board President
University
of California,
Berkeley, A.B. Geology (1974)
University
of California,
Santa Cruz,
Ph.D. Geology (1980)
As a
geologist, Dr. Blueford worked on many projects that looked at
understanding how sedimentary basins evolved through time. She
worked in the Pacific Ocean, California, Alaska, and Russia
(Siberia and Sakhalin). Presently her attention is focused on
preservation of scientific artifacts through the Children's
Natural History Museum, Tule Ponds at Tyson Lagoon Wetland
Center, Fremont Earthquake Exhibit, and California Nursery
Historical Park all managed by the Math Science Nucleus so
children and the public can learn more about science and the
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Debbie Masten Davidson,
BS Forestry and Wildlife Management,
Virginia Tech
Debbie Davidson worked with the Math Science Nucleus’ nationally
recognized curriculum, Integrating Science Math and Technology.
She was key in working with school administrators to bring
the program to North Carolina presenting teacher training; setting
up science labs and outdoor classrooms; and conducting science
community clubs, science camps, and environmental projects.
Prior to the Math Science
Nucleus, she developed and grew the outreach program for Discovery
Place (a leading science and technology museum) in Charlotte NC.
She continues to be involved with animal rehabilitation and
foster activities, and land (timber and wildlife) management.
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Karen Anderson, Ph.D.
Archaeologist
Karen Anderson has a Ph.D in anthropology from UC Santa Barbara with a
specialty in archaeology. Her research specialty is pre-Columbian
cultures of South America with her fieldwork for the last ten years
focusing on the spread of the Tiwanaku empire that controlled most of
modern day Bolivia from AD 600-1100. In the talk, she will use data from
her excavations to demonstrate how archaeologists apply scientific
investigation techniques to understand prehistoric cultures.
She
currently teaches for the Dana Raimondi Math Scholar and acts a
consultant to our scouting program.
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Angeline M. Catena, Ph.D.
Paleontologist
University of Wisconsin – B.S Geology (2010), Ohio University –
M.S Geology (2012), Case Western Reserve University – Ph.D Biology
(2018)
Angeline Catena is a geologist and paleontologist who specializes
in fossil soils (paleosols) and trace fossils (ichnofossils).
Through her research she has investigated the traces produced by
modern reptile species, and has reconstructed the
paleoenvironments of localities in the Appalachian basin of Ohio,
and the Altiplano of Bolivia. Angeline is currently focused on
education, in addition to her work at the Math Science Nucleus,
she is also an adjunct professor of Geology at Diablo Valley
College.
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Art Williams, Restoration Specialist
Art has been helping to keep Tule
Ponds at Tyson Lagoon look as natural and safe for our school
field trips. He keeps the irrigation maintained as well as
all the trails. He started working at the Reforestation
project at the Masonic Homes as a student intern with Tri-Ced.
Art also oversees volunteers on Saturdays as he leads students on
different restoration projects. He also helps out at
California Nursery Historic Park when needed.
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Hagos Tewolde Negusse, Animator
and Illustrator:
Hagos was born in Asmara,
Eritrea, East Africa. He has BSc. degree in Mathematics
from the University of Asmara, CISCO IT Essentials I and
II from Cisco, illustration and animation certificates
from Adobe and diploma in Art from an Art School in
Eritrea. He was trained for years in macromedia flash by
the late Doris Raia, who was an animator at the Math
Science Nucleus. He works as an illustrator and Animator
at the Math Science Nucleus.
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Ken Miller,
M.S. Electrical Engineer (retired)
Ken Miller's
background includes a Bachelor of Science in Electronic Engineering,
Cal Poly, Master of Science in Electrical Engineering, University of
Kansas. Amateur Radio License WB6BJX. Licensed radio and television
broadcast engineer. California Community College Teaching Credential
in Engineering. Active in planetarium support and astronomy teaching
programs. |
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Sam Miller,
studied Early Childhood Education at De Anza College
and majored in Psychology at San Jose State. Sam worked at a
day care center with 1 to 2 year olds as the head of the toddler
center when her children were young and spent many years working
in Customer Service and Purchasing in the tech industry. She
always had an interest in plants and wildlife especially living in
the Santa Cruz mountains on 10 acres of redwood forest. Sam have
always loved working to educate young children and assisting Ken
(her husband) in his pursuits of this. She enjoys volunteering in
the museum shop and interacting with the visitors.
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Jim Houston,
Chemist
Jim
has a BS in Chemistry and teaching credentials in math and
physical science from UC Berkeley. He taught high school for a
total of eight years including physics, honor physics, chemistry,
physical science and algebra. He worked in high tech for many
years, first to create chemical structure and reaction databases
and then to design and test chemical software. Currently he
teaches high school chemistry and physics and he is a part-time
lab science teacher at a local primary school. |
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Dorel Baca,
B.A. on assignment
Dorel Baca is a native to the San Francisco Bay
area; he grew up in Oakland, California and received his B.A. from San
Jose State University. Dorel’s
degree in Communications with an emphasis on Television, Film, and
Radio, makes classes at the Math Science Nucleus understandable and fun
for kids (and adults!) Dorel was
recruited by IHEART Media where he held the position as “Morning Show
Producer” for five years on Wild 94.9 FM. In February of 2015, Dorel
decided to return back to the Math Science Nucleus (where he taught for
6 years during college years) as
the new “Educational Coordinator.”
Dorel’s job responsibility includes instructing all “Children’s
Natural History Museum” field trips, creating new programs and services
for classroom teachers, and brainstorming new ideas to market the
non-profit.
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More information on founder and Board President
Joyce R. Blueford, Ph.D.
As a
geologist, Dr. Blueford worked on many projects that looked at
understanding how sedimentary basins evolved through time. She
worked in the Pacific Ocean, California, Alaska, and Russia (Siberia and Sakhalin).
Her expertise is siliceous rock deposition during the Cenozoic in the
Pacific Ocean. Her specialty is radiolarian evolution which are
protozoa that produce a siliceous skeleton of unimaginable beauty.
She has written over 60 scientific peer reviewed articles including
edited 7 volumes on Sakhalin Island (Russia) Geology. She has also
authored 5 books on baseline habitat documentation of areas in southern
Alameda County in California.
As a U.S. Geological Survey research
scientists, she got involved with getting more women and minorities into
the ranks of geologists. This is when it became obvious that not
enough quality science was in the curriculum. She lobbied at the
local, state, and national level to get more geology into elementary
schools after determining that was a major problem for low income children
to think science. In 1982, Joyce with other scientists in the San
Francisco Bay area founded the Math Science Nucleus to help the public
school system bring in more science into the curriculum.
Joyce has also coordinated research
to educational projects in her 30 years as the Board President of the
Math/Science Nucleus.
She is the major author of
Integrating
Science, Math, and Technology Reference curriculum, a 6 volume hands-on
program for K-6th grades.
It made the supplemental list for State
Adoption in 1990-98, and was used in school districts throughout the
country.
She has also authored 23 Children’s science books. She was involved with
the first national effort to increase earthquake education in the schools.
She worked with Xerox Palo Alto Research Center on ways in which
technology can help with science education and developed some of the
prototypes of online based learning that would eventually use tablets as
the medium to replace books. Dr Blueford worked in Eritrea, Africa
on this prototype learning system to provide science materials that were
customized to specific countries.
Past
Doris Raia
(1957-2012)
Animator, Artist
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