Kelly O’Donnell & Beth Tuck

Teaches at Chicago Dance

Kelly O’Donnell is a plant evolutionary ecologist and the Director of Science Forward at Macaulay Honors College, CUNY. Science Forward is a skills-based scientific literacy curriculum framework and OER (available at: http://cuny.is/scienceforward) suitable for a variety of student audiences. The Science Forward program begins with a student BioBlitz of an area of NYC so that students can collect and analyze their own data during their course. Kelly also organizes the NYC arm of the annual City Nature Challenge, which is an effort to get all city inhabitants to make observations of the natural world around them in the city.

Kelly’s background is in biology and science pedagogy. She has a BS in Biology from Cornell University and a PhD in Ecology and Evolution from Stony Brook University. She then continued with a teaching-focused postdoc at Columbia University’s Frontiers of Science program.

Beth Tuck is the Director of Science Education at Genspace. Previously, she was a genomics education specialist at the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) where she worked on enhancing K-16 genomic literacy, education, and community engagement. 

Her work included designing curricular resources, engaging students and teachers in hands-on genomics activities, supporting teacher professional development, and training scientists in public engagement skills. Her graduate research at Washington University in St. Louis focused on the genetics and molecular mechanisms of neurological and neuromuscular disorders.