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Greses Pérez is the McDonnell Family Assistant Professor in Engineering Education in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at Tufts University with secondary appointments in Mechanical Engineering and Education. Her studies and publications in the learning sciences and engineering education focus on advancing theoretical models and pedagogical approaches of the relationship between community resources and engineering epistemologies and practices. We also seek to study and develop learning environments that support minoritized students, who may experience a cultural and linguistic mismatch between the ways of knowing and speaking in their local contexts and those in the technical disciplines.

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Pragyee Shrestha is a master’s student in STEM Education at Tufts University. She is passionate about making engineering education more culturally relevant and helping students connect their learning to real-world applications. Her research focuses on exploring community practices and their similarities with engineering practices, aiming to bring these insights into engineering design classrooms. She is also studying how artifacts, peer interactions, and language shape engineering education for high school students. Pragyee is dedicated to creating hands-on learning resources, technologies, and spaces that make engineering more practical, inclusive, and engaging.

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Dr. Cameron holds a PhD in education from Drexel University. Experienced educator deeply committed to advancing student engagement and academic success throughout the PK-20 education continuum via culturally affirming and sustaining pedagogies. Certified in Biology education for grades 7-12 and actively engaged in early career research focused on supporting, cultivating, and nurturing STEM identity among Black girls, I offer a distinctive combination of teaching proficiency and research acumen. Skilled in both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies, I adeptly tailor instructional approaches to meet the needs of diverse student populations. My track record of collaboration within interdisciplinary research teams and successful outcomes in both physical and virtual learning environments underscores my versatility and effectiveness.

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Noemi Waight is an Associate Professor of Science Education in the Graduate School of Education at the University at Buffalo. Dr. Waight is the PI/Co-PI of several National Science Foundation (NSF) funded projects, a League of American Bicyclists Cycling Instructor (LCI), community educator, volunteer, and activist. Dr. Waight’s research, which engages formal/informal learning in the context of precollege science education focuses on the understandings of the nature of technology, enactment of technology-supported inquiry-based science teaching and learning; transparent, equitable and critical technologies; and community-based teaching and learning, and urban ethnic, racial and linguistically diverse youth science and engineering learning with the bicycle.

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Dr. Kayumova holds a PhD in Educational Theory and Practice from University of Georgia. She joined STEM Education and Teacher Development Department in Fall, 2014, and has taught a wide range of courses including Introduction to Qualitative Methods, Introduction to Quantitative Methods, Research Skills II, Emerging Theories and Methods in STEM Education. Dr. Kayumova is a four-lingual researcher, teacher educator, and learning scientist. Dr. Kayumova published and presented in more than 60 peer reviewed journals and conferences and has been awarded multiple research grants from National Science Foundation. Dr. Kayumova is a recent recipient of the National Science Foundation’s Early Career award. Shakhnoza’s work appears in journals such as Anthropology & Education Quarterly, Educational Philosophy and Theory, Democracy and Education, and Journal of Research in Science Teaching (JRST).

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Ryan’s research interests involve the literacy practices of adolescents and adults, especially in regard to how those practices relate to the institutions, social spaces, and geographic places in which they are enacted. This research includes investigations within and across classrooms, online spaces, and communities guided by concerns for learning with participants how to make learning opportunities more equitable for marginalized youth and how to engage students with critical considerations of their social worlds and local communities.

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Jennifer N. Tripp, Ph.D. is a postdoctoral researcher at the University at Buffalo, SUNY. Her research draws upon critical, asset-oriented, ecosystem, opportunity, and STEM identity theoretical perspectives and mixed methods approaches to examine the liberatory opportunities for STEM education and their relationships with the identities of K-20 students, educators, and STEM professionals across contexts.

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Fatemeh Mozaffari is a PhD student in the Department of Learning and Instruction at the University at Buffalo. Her research lies at the intersection of language and STEM education, with a focus on equity, bi/multilingualism, and identity in community-based learning environments. She studies the linguistic practices of youth in STEM learning contexts, examining how their participation, meaning-making, and identities are represented through their languaging. Fatemeh brings to this work an academic background in language and literature, along with over a decade of teaching experience.

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Stacy is a doctoral student in Curriculum, Instruction and the Science of Learning at the UB Graduate School of Education Department of Learning and Instruction. She has over five years of teaching experience in formal science education, and several more in informal educational settings. Her research interests include collaborative learning in physics and chemistry and the design of learning technologies.

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