About

Kate is a Professor at Boston College’s Lynch School for Education and Human Development. For the past twenty years, she has worked on projects designing and researching curriculum, professional development and resources to support students, teachers and instructional leaders in scientific sensemaking. The past three years has led the development of the OpenSciEd Professional Learning materials and is excited to now be the Co-Director of the OEI Initiative. 

Kate holds a B.A. in Biology and a B.A. English and American Literature (Honors) from Brown University. Kate also has the following degrees from the University of Michigan; M.S. in Science Education, M.S. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and a Ph.D. in Science Education.

Renee has been supporting K-12 teachers in science education for over 20 years. For the past three years, she has worked with Kate McNeill on the design of the OpenSciEd middle school science curriculum and professional learning experiences for teachers. Renee serves as Co-Director of the OEI Initiative with a particular focus on the ongoing professional learning. Renee holds a B.A. in Biology from Drake University, a M.A. in Science Education from UC Berkeley , and a Ph.D. in Education from UMass Amherst.

Jana Brinkhaus joins OEI from Boston College’s Center for Work and Family, with a mission of enhancing the employee experience, increasing employee productivity, and improving the quality of employee lives. As the Senior Financial Administrator, Jana will be working with districts to provide grant funds and manage the operations of the OEI Initiative. Jana holds a B..S in Marketing and Human Resource Management from the Boston College Carroll School of Management and a MBA with a concentration in Finance from Babson College.

Marianne Dunne joins the OEI team from Boston Public Schools (BPS) Science Technology and Engineering department as a senior project director during the field test, adoption and implementation of the OSE middle school curriculum. Marianne has been a science educator for 30+ years in both informal and formal settings. Her passion is facilitating professional learning experiences with science educators that promote student engagement and accessibility for all learners. She developed her skills and expertise as Manager of Student & Teacher programs at the Boston Museum of Science, 7th grade science teacher and K-8 science instructional coach with Cambridge Public Schools, STE specialist at MA Department of Elementary & Secondary Education. Marianne holds a Bachelor of Science in Education from Northeastern University, and graduate work from UMass Boston and Salem State University. She enjoys outdoor teaching and learning and collaborating with educators and leaders on projects that promote science education.

Sarah has taught science for 12 years in New York City public schools as well as in the Boston area. Prior to that, she worked as a research scientist for Kraft Foods doing product development.  Sarah is energized by the work the OEI team is doing around science teaching and equitable sensemaking. She is excited to be involved with this initiative as she pursues her PhD with Kate McNeill as her advisor. Sarah holds a B.S. in Food Science from Cornell University and an M.A. in Science Teaching from Columbia University Teachers College.

Ji-Sun joins the OEI team after serving as a middle school science teacher and a children and families program director for a Boston non-profit.  She has implemented OSE in her 7th grade science classroom and is excited to work with district and school leaders, and classroom teachers as an OEI School Support Specialist.  Ji-Sun holds a B.A. in Child Development from Tufts University and a M.Ed in from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Bruce brings 18 years of teaching experience in Boston Public Schools, teaching middle math and science. He has also worked in inclusion classroom settings.  He was part of the 3 year field test of OpenSciEd, focusing on the 6th grade units.In his role as School Support Specialist, he will work with the district and school champions, as well as classroom teachers, to support the implementation of OpenSciEd at the district, school and classroom levels.  Bruce has a Bachelors of Mechanical Engineering from University of Delaware , a MBA from University of North Carolina, and a JD from the  University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill.

Ben is a doctoral candidate in science education at Boston College, where he studies how teachers learn to teach science as a process of figuring out the natural world. For the past three years, he has been a member of the OpenSciEd professional learning design team. Before graduate school, he taught high school chemistry, biology, and environmental science in the San Francisco Bay area. He holds an B.S.  in biochemistry from Brown University and an M.A. in education from Stanford University.

Hillary Paul Metcalf joins OEI from supporting the OpenSciEd field test as a Science and Technology/Engineering Support Specialist with the MA Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Prior to her time at the state, Hillary was a high school science teacher. Hillary would absolutely use OpenSciEd in her own classroom and is excited to support the implementation of the OpenSciEd materials across the state. Hillary has a B.E. in Biomedical Engineering from the Stevens Institute of Technology and a M.A. in Science Teaching and Supervision from Columbia University Teachers College.

Patricia began her teaching career through Teach For America New York, and then returned home to continue her work in Lawrence, Massachusetts. In her 9 years in the classroom, Patricia has taught both middle school and high school, and mostly taught ELA, and science. Her passion for education has led her to take on the role of school support specialist. At the district, school, and classroom level, she will work alongside with and support the district, school leaders, school champions, and teachers in implementing the OpenSciEd curriculum. Patricia has a bachelor's degree in Sociology from Northeastern University, and her Masters degree in Education with a concentration in Special Education from Brooklyn College.

Nicole brings 15 years of teaching experience in Boston Public Schools, predominantly in the Sheltered English Instruction setting. She was part of the 3 year pilot of OpenSciEd, focusing on the 8th grade units. In her role as School Support Specialist, she will work with the district and school champions, as well as classroom teachers, to support the implementation of OpenSciEd at the district, school and classroom levels.  Nicole has B.A. in Linguistics from the University of Chicago and an M.Ed from the University of Massachusetts Boston.