We are very pleased that Louise Mead is joining the BEACON team, in the role of Education Director. Louise is an accomplished evolutionary biologist with a broad range of teaching and administrative experience; she has spent the past four years as the Education Project Director for the National Center for Science Education (NCSE).
Louise earned a BA in Psychology at Bucknell and a Masters of Education with K-12 Teacher Certification in Biology and General Science at UMass Amherst. Then Louise taught high school science for three years before earning a PhD in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at UMass. She spent several years as a postdoctoral researcher, including two years working with Steve Arnold as a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow in Biological Informatics. She has published her scientific work in Evolution, TREE and other journals. Along the way, Louise has taught evolution, molecular evolution, genetics, environmental science and introductory biology.
While working at NCSE, Louise has served as a science content and education consultant for many publishers, museums and education associations. She worked with WGBH, Boston, to develop educational materials to accompany the NOVA Judgment Day program, about the Dover trial. She has several publications on science education in the journal Evolution: Education & Outreach. Louise serves on the Education Committee of the Society for the Study of Evolution and has received the SSE Darwin Award for Outreach. We are very fortunate to have Louise as a colleague.
Louise will introduce herself as she begins taking up the reins in January. Please welcome her then.
By Tom Getty, Chair, Education Director Search Committee
