People

Doris Ash, Associate Professor of Education, Principle Investigator, 2000-present

Dr. Ash was awarded the Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley in science education in 1995, after working for many years with Ann Brown and Joseph Campione in the Fostering a Community of Learners (FCL) classroom project. She is a biologist, and has been a science teacher for many years at elementary, high school, Junior College and University levels.

Dr. Ash's main research focus is on museum learning, specifically attempting to understand the thematic content and well as the social repertoire of skills that families use in conversations about life science topics, used in scientific sense-making. See the publications page to learn more about this work. This research fits well with the NSF (National Science Foundation) CILS (Center for Informal Learning and Schools) training grant. She is part of this collaboration between the Exploratorium, the University of California Santa Cruz, and King's College London and also with the MLC (Museum Learning Collaborative) at the University of Pittsburgh. Ash was co founder, past chair, and program coordinator for the AERA Special Interest Group (SIG) Informal Learning Environments Research (ILER).

The aim of all Dr. Ash's museum research is to understand how social groups make sense of science in informal contexts. With the help of several grants from UCSC and an NSF career grant (REC #0133662), and an AERA/IES grant she is conducting a five-year research project with English and Spanish-speaking families (many of whom are bilingual). The aim is to understand scientific sense-making but with a second aim of determining how museum learning can serve as a pathway to increasing advancement in formal science settings, especially for those typically excluded from science and mathematics. This work is consistent with UCSC'S philosophy of equal access to science learning for all students. To that end, she has forged strong formal collaborative links over the past year with two informal learning institutions, the Monterey Bay Aquarium and the Seymour Marine Discovery Center.

Joanna Sherman-Gardner, Research Lab Manager, 2002-present

Joanna met Dr. Ash while earning her M.A. in the Education Department at UC Santa Cruz. Since then, she has been coordinating all the office and research logistics for the Ash Research Lab.


Graduate Students

Jeri Countryman, Graduate Student, 2006-2007

Jeri joined the Ash Research Lab in 2006 to pursue her graduate degree in Science Education. Prior to joining the lab, Jeri worked with a girls-only technology, science, and engineering program. Jeri is interested in gender equity and how role models influence the career paths of students.

Rhiannon Crain, Graduate Student, 2003-2007

Background of work as an educational specialist for the Flandrau Science Center in Tucson, AZ. Bachelor of Science in Evolutionary Biology

Past lab work: Current interests:

Molly Loomis, Graduate Student, 2003-2007

Molly joined the Ash Research Lab with a background in museum education and exhibit development. As part of the Lab, Molly helped to develop a method for "segmenting" video data, studied the role that questions play in family conversations about science, and struggled to understand the relationship between "everyday" and "scientific" thinking. She is interested in understanding how institutional environments affect learning organizations such as museums and schools, and thus the kinds of learning activities that occur in those settings. Her dissertation research will focus on family conversations at the Exploratorium, particularly how these conversations are structured by the rules, artifacts, community, and history of the Exploratorium.

Mele Wheaton, Graduate Student, 2004-2007

Mele joined the lab after years working as a field biologist and an informal science educator. She is interested in the relationships between schools and museums, specifically regarding issues of access to informal learning institutions by schools in low-income and multicultural communities. Her second year project explored how middle school girls' participation in informal science activities at a bilingual summer science camp shape their attitude toward and characterization of science. As part of the Ash Research Lab, she helped develop a method for segmenting and coding informal science conversations, and has been working with a team to understand mediation strategies in informal science institutions.


Post-Doctoral Researchers

Carol Brandt, Post Doctoral Researcher 2004-2006

Carol Brandt was a Postdoctoral Researcher funded through the Center for Informal Learning and Schools, 2004-2006. As a member of the Dash Lab, Carol's research focused on educational ethnography and sociolinguistics. Her postdoctoral research emphasized metalinguistic strategies among parents and children as they used a marine science center. Carol received her PhD in education from the University of New Mexico. Carol is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia.

Jill Hohenstein, Post Doctoral Researcher, 2003-2005

As a Postdoctoral Researcher funded through the Center for Informal Learning and Schools, Jill shared time between the Ash Research Lab and the Developmental Psychology lab of Dr. Maureen Callanan. Jill's research with the lab focused on the use of analogies in family conversations about science. Jill received her PhD in Developmental Psychology from Yale University. She is currently an Assistant Professor in Educational Psychology at King's College, London.


Technical Crew

Rachel Diaz Lundquist, Translation Consultant, 2002-present

Rachel joined the Ash Lab in 2001 as a transcriber and Spanish-English translator. Rachel holds a B.A. in language studies from UCSC with a major in Spanish, and she has been working as a professional interpreter and translator since 1988. As part of the Lab, Rachel performs detailed transcription of recorded data that is in Spanish and then translates this data into English.

Lewis Ingham, Technology Consultant, 2005-present

Lewis is a student at UCSC majoring in Film and Digital Media and minoring in Education and Theater Arts. Lewis also runs a successful video production company and has had his work shown and distributed internationally. His work with the Ash Research Lab includes collecting and compiling of video data.

Jesse Clark, Technology Consultant 2006-present

Jesse is a Film and Digital Media student at UCSC with a minor in Electronic Music. Jesse produces films and music, and assists the Ash lab in producing creative visualizations of research data for presentation formats.

Ryan Gallagher, Technology Consultant, 2003-2005

Ryan joined the Ash Research Lab while working towards a B.A. at UCSC. His work with the lab included creating a digital media system for storing data, preparing digital data for conference presentations, and developing a preliminary website. Since graduation from UCSC, Ryan has been working for a media production agency

Jesse Parker-Campbell, Technology Consultant, 2005-2006

Jesse joined the Ash Research Lab while working towards a B.A. at UCSC. His work with the lab included creating a digital media system for storing data, preparing digital data for conference presentations, and developing a preliminary website. Since graduation from UCSC, Jesse has been working for a media production agency.


Research Assistants

Gregorio Benavides, Research Assistant, 2002-2005

Gregorio joined the Ash Research Lab while working towards a PhD in Marine Biology at UCSC. As a bilingual (English-Spanish) mediator, he helped Latino families make the most of their experience in informal learning settings such as the Monterey Bay Aquarium and the Seymour Discovery Center at UCSC. Gregorio's personal graduate research focused on processes that create and maintain genetic diversity in marine organisms, particularly among Indo-Pacific groupers.

Christine Bennett, Research Assistant, 2005-2006

Christine Bennett graduated from UCSC with honors in June 2006 with a B.A. in Environmental Studies and a minor in Education. In June, 2006, she began a position as Program Assistant for the California Association of Museums. From Spring 2004 through July 2006, Christine worked as a Student Assistant at the Seymour Marine Discovery Center at Long Marine Laboratory. Within her student position at this science education center, she worked with the school, visitor, and volunteer programs. Beginning August, 2006, Christine began a temporary staff appointment as Admission/Operations Associate at the Seymour Center. For her senior exit internship, Christine was employed in the BioSITE program at the Children's Discovery Museum in San Jose during the 2005-2006 school year. For her senior project, she created an interactive website with online activities and games that focused on BioSITE's freshwater ecology programming. Christine is especially interested in the connections between classroom and museum/informal learning and the wide variety of learning styles in these settings. She worked with the Ash Research Lab analyzing family and student conversations about science.

Frances Karg, Research Assistant, 2005-present

Frances is currently an undergraduate majoring in marine biology with a minor in education at UC Santa Cruz. She plans to complete the masters credential program in preparation to teach high school biology. Frances became a member of the Ash Lab in 2005 because of her interests in informal educational programs at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. She has worked in several capacities at the aquarium including volunteer guide, guest relations, and visitor programs naturalist.

Michelle Morella, Research Assistant, 2005-2006

Michelle works as an educator at the Seymour Discovery Center. She worked with the Ash Research Lab analyzing family and student conversations about science.

Emalynn Robinson, Research Assistant, 2005-2006

Emalynn graduated from UCSC with a B.A. in psychology in 2006. She worked with the Ash Research Lab analyzing data on science graduate students' transformation from traditional to inquiry-based educators.

Daria Siciliano, Research Assistant 2002-2005

Daria was one of the first recruits of the Ash Research Lab, joining in Fall 2002 as a bilingual (English-Spanish) Mediator, helping Latino families make the most of their experience in informal learning settings such as the Monterey Bay Aquarium and the Seymour Discovery Center at UCSC. Daria also contributed her knowledge in Marine Biology helping to identify "scientific discourse" within the analysis of family conversations taking place at the Aquaria. Daria has a Ph.D. in Biological Oceanography, and a keen interest in science education. Her academic and family background (Italian and Venezuelan) together have fueled her interest in promoting bilingual minority students' advancement in science, particularly for young women.

Stephanie Van, Research Assistant, 2005-2006

Stephanie graduated from UCSC with highest honors in June 2005, earning a B.A. in Psychology. She worked with the Ash Research Lab analyzing data on science graduate students' transformation from traditional to inquiry-based educators. Stephanie is also affiliated with the lab of Dr. Campbell Leaper in UCSC's Psychology Department, with whom she is collaborating on a research article that explores the relationship between gender and academic self-concept. She is now pursuing a career in education.