Faculty and Graduate Students

 

 

Meet Our Graduate Students

Doctoral Candidates

Naomi Gutierrez (2024) 
Naomi Gutierrez earned a bachelor's degree in elementary education from New Mexico State University. She moved to Fort Worth to be a 6th grade mathematics teacher. She taught mathematics for 3 years before falling in love with teaching science. She has now taught science for 11 years.  

Naomi participated in a professional development through the Andrews Institute funded by a Teacher Quality Grant. The professional development introduced her to Dr. Molly Weinburgh and Dr. Cecilia Silva. She implemented their 5R Instructional Model of vocabulary into her classroom. They came in weekly and did observations. The three then presented how Naomi was implementing and how the students were doing with it in Costa Rica at ICRSME. Naomi also presented her classroom experiences at SSMA. She co-authored a chapter in the ICRSME book and an article in NSTA scope with Dr. Molly Weinburgh and Dr. Cecilia Silva.  

Ann-Marie McCollough (2024)

Lex Salazar (2024) 

Carmella Killburn (2023)

Jodi Sarber (2023)
Jodi Sarber graduated from Texas Christian University in 2001 with a Bachelor of Science in Biology. Before beginning her current career as a teacher with Fort Worth ISD, she was a Zookeeper with the Fort Worth Zoo.

As a zookeeper, she had the opportunity to breed endangered seahorse species and rehabilitate endangered sea turtles while educating the public about marine conservation. Her passion for science and education led her to a science teaching position at the middle school level. She earned her Master's in Curriculum and Instruction-Science from the University of Texas at Arlington in 2014. To further her pedagogy, she then transitioned her teaching experience and taught middle school science to beginner level emerging bilingual students.

She became a certified QTEL-Wested Professional Developer to support science teachers in working with emerging bilingual students. Her current teaching position is at the high school level working with long- term emerging bilingual students. In addition, she supports teachers by leading professional development and writing curriculum for Accelerated Learning. Her passion for science education has led her to the TCU doctoral program focusing her research on supporting science teachers to better serve multilingual students.  

Gracie Davis (2022)
Gracie Davis holds a Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience from Baylor University in and a Master’s of Science in Neurobiology from the University of Texas San Antonio (UTSA).  She has had a keen interest in science since her early middle school years and has been driven to impart her love of science to others throughout her educational career. Her love of teaching science began when she taught college undergraduates at UTSA.  She started her teaching career in 2020 and pre-severed through remote learning techniques and engaging her students with this new teaching method.  She began teaching in Fort Worth, Texas, where she has taught biology, honors anatomy, medical terminology, dual credit biology, and microbiology. Gracie is a skilled trivia player who welcomes any opportunity to share her knowledge of everything science whenever possible. Her goal is to complete her doctoral program in Science Education to help develop meaningful, measurable, and improved techniques for teaching students for educators across the nation. Her research interests include expanding scientific literacy, especially concerning media consumption and analyzing misinformation and disinformation presented on media platforms. She is a firm believer in health empowerment through informed practices and patients.  

Christelle Fayad (2022)
Christelle Fayad earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology and an Master’s of Science in Molecular Biology from the Lebanese American University. She also obtained a Teaching Diploma from the University of Balamand. Christelle worked in targeted cancer therapeutics and published a study about photoactivatable chemotherapy in the Journal of Biological Inorganic Chemistry. Her educational roles included being a laboratory instructor at the Lebanese American University and an elementary science teacher in Bechmezine High School. Her science research and education experiences made her realize her interest in how students learn science. Her research interests include improving scientific literacy in underdeveloped countries and learning more on socio scientific issues. Christelle is president of the Graduate Student Senate, received the STARS award from the office of graduate studies at TCU, and is enjoying courses and activities at TCU. 

 Zuzana Garcia (2022)

Rocco Williams (2022)
Rocco Williams, originally from the Chicagoland area, moved to Fort Worth immediately after graduating from Illinois State University with a Bachelor's in Elementary Education. With a 17-year career entirely within Fort Worth ISD, Rocco has served as a 5th-grade science teacher, science instructional coach, and science curriculum coordinator. In 2016, he earned his M.Ed in Instructional Design with Technology from the American College of Education. Rocco co-founded an educational technology start-up in 2017 and has been dedicated to developing online science resources for teachers and students for the past six years. He enjoys spending time with his wife and son, who support him in all his endeavors. Currently, he is the president of the Texas Council for Elementary Science (TCES), an informal education organization dedicated to helping elementary science teachers connect, collaborate, and grow. 

Naomi Alanis (2021)
Naomi holds an AA in Music from El Centro College, BA in Psychology from the University of Texas at Arlington, an MS in Information Science with a concentration on Health Informatics from the University of North Texas, and an MBA in Healthcare & Executive Leadership and Coaching from the University of Texas at Dallas. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Education: Science Education and was recently appointed the honor of becoming a Holmes Scholar at Texas Christian University.

Naomi is also Assistant Professor at Texas Christian University and University of North Texas Health Science Center School of Medicine and Manager of Clinical Research for Integrative Emergency Services (IES). Her research sites include John Peter Smith Hospital and Baylor All Saints in Fort Worth, TX, and Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, TX. She is Chair of the Clinical Researcher United Exchange (CRUX) interest group within the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM).

Naomi’s focus in the emergency department (ED) at John Peter Smith Hospital has been to develop a robust emergency medicine research division. To that end, she implements and manages investigator-initiated studies, clinical trials, and data collection. She also plays a key role in managing multi-center research projects, manuscript drafting/editing, promoting faculty development, and facilitating resident and medical student education in research. Naomi’s research interests include empathy, diversity, equity, justice, and inclusion in higher education and health healthcare for traditionally underrepresented/underfunded populations.

Naomi is an El Paso, TX native. After moving to North Texas, she attended schools in Oak Cliff, a suburb of Dallas, and went on to graduate high school from Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (BTWHSPVA). In addition to her professional and educational pursuits, Naomi plays the violin in the Coppell Community Orchestra, for which she is the music librarian and board member. She also likes to macramé, listen to music, visit national state parks, and relax with friends, family, and the family cat (named Frog) in her spare time.

Jessie Farris (2021) Jessie developed a passion for conservation and native plants at Texas Christian University before graduating in 2017. She has been with the City of Dallas for three years as the Northwest District Arborist. When she’s not in the field or meeting with clients, Jessie’s focus is on public education, citizen science, and developing training materials for the City. She also serves on the City of Burleson’s Parks Board and is the Secretary for the Trinity Blacklands Urban Forestry Council.

Her work with the city led her to pursue a Master’s degree in Sustainable Natural Resource Management at Unity College. As part of her studies, she developed an environmental education curriculum to spread environmental awareness through a scientific perspective using outdoor labs and nature-based activities. She is honored to be pursuing her Doctorate in Science Education at Texas Christian University. Her goal is to connect students and local communities to the natural environment and promote active stewardship of its ecological resources to strengthen local and equitable resilience to climate change while creating more sustainable and community-based resource management strategies.

Morgan Jansing (2021)
Morgan holds a B.S. in Environmental Biology from Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado, and an M.S. in Environmental Studies from Texas Christian University. Throughout her schooling and her career, she has found ways to stay involved with her two loves: science and education. Whether it was summer jobs working at the Fort Worth Zoo School to more formal career opportunities building a local food-based education program in Amarillo, TX and a field school for middle schoolers through a Fort Worth non-profit, she always finds a way to pique students’ interests while using the outdoors as a classroom. She holds a teaching certification through the Houston Montessori Center and has been teaching 4^th, 5^th and 6^th grade since 2017. 

Ashley Titus (2020)
Ashley earned her Master of Environmental Management at TCU in 2016. While at TCU, she was honored to work as a graduate assistant for the Institute of Ranch Management (IRM). During that time, she had the opportunity to help develop TCU’s Living Laboratory and worked with international stakeholders to spread IRM’s sustainability message. Post-graduation she worked in the public and private sectors of the environmental industry. During her stint with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, she collaborated with farmers and ranchers regarding water right management through the 2016 drought. This experience reignited her passion for environmental education. Ashley is interested in researching educational methods to bridge the gap between ranching and scientific communities.

Jennifer Tuff (2020)
Jennifer has taught biology in Fort Worth ISD for the past 10 years. She recently received her Masters degree from the TCU College of Education in 2019. Her focus during her Master's was incorporating reading through digital literacy programs into the science classroom to improve content understanding. She hopes to continue to study the ties between literacy and content understanding during her doctoral research. Outside of the world of education, Jennifer loves to spend time with her husband, son and three fur babies and lives for family dinners (nearly every Sunday) with her parents. A California girl to her core, she loves the ocean and the beach, but Texas sunsets are a very close second!  She is looking forward to finding ways to help teachers better include reading as a classroom practice in science. Someday when she grows up, Jennifer would like to work in a teacher training program and help to develop the next generation of science educators.

Stephanie Wallace (2020)
Stephanie earned her B.S. Biology at the University of Texas at Arlington (2006) and M.S. in Biology at Texas Christian University (2009). Since then, she has been teaching Anatomy and Physiology courses to undergraduate students, and has been teaching at TCU since 2013. Most of her students are freshmen, many of whom struggle to find effective ways of learning difficult science material, and are also primarily nursing or pre-health majors, where it is important that the foundational knowledge of these courses be remembered for the long-term. Nationally, introductory-level science courses in nursing programs have an attrition rate between 30-50%. Many students leave because they feel that the courses are too difficult. While it is important to maintain rigor, are there better ways to teach these courses to increase student learning and decrease the attrition rate?  Stephanie is excited to be part of the Science Education doctoral program and learn how to more effectively research the answers to this question to help give students the best tools to learn science.

Jayme Simlin Del Mario (2019)
Jayme earned her bachelor’s degree in Biology from Oklahoma State University (2010) and began working at a Bariatric surgery clinic in 2012. After exploring her interest in medical education, she began her Medical School Post Baccalaureate program in New York. Jayme thoroughly enjoyed her time in the medical field but always felt like she belonged behind the podium rather than in a clinic.  Thus, after earning her master’s degree in Biological interdisciplinary Studies from Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine, she took a leap of faith into K-12 education, teaching Medical Microbiology, Anatomy and Physiology and Pathophysiology at Duncanville High School for 5 years. Since then, Jayme has served in a variety of educational roles and settings within higher education and K-12 institutions. She currently serves as a Campus Instructional Coach at City Lab High School in Dallas ISD.  Jayme enjoys collaborating with secondary educators to support engaging teaching and learning strategies. She is honored and excited to be a TCU PhD student. Jayme’s interest includes analyzing the ironic disparities among higher education entrance examinations and success in academia.

Lara Kuhlman (2019)
Lara attended Texas A&M University and received a Bachelor of Science in Animal Science (2004) as well as a Master of Science in Physiology of Reproduction (2008). While attending A&M Lara worked in the field of Animal Health with various researchers on campus. Upon working toward a master’s degree, she became a teaching assistant for the undergraduate class Reproduction in Farm Animals for 3 years. This sparked a love of teaching and Lara pursued an Alternative Teaching Certificate in Life Sciences (6-12th grades). After graduating with a master’s degree, Lara began teaching Biology and Advanced Placement (AP) Biology at Paschal High School for five years. She has also taught three years of Middle School Science including Earth Science, Life Science, and Physical Science. Beginning in 2013 to present, Lara has been an adjunct professor at Tarrant County College, teaching Anatomy and Physiology II. She is also a Certified ISR Self-Rescue Swim Instructor. Lara was born and raised in Fort Worth and is excited to begin the Science Education Doctoral program at TCU.

Megan Clawson (2018)
Megan earned her bachelor’s degree in Biology here at TCU (2002), and began teaching in 2003. She loved her time in the science classroom and decided to pursue graduate work in science education. She received her Master’s degree in Math, Science, and Technology Education from The Ohio State University (2009). Since then, Megan has served in a variety of educational roles and settings including both K-12 education and higher education. She currently is a faculty developer in TCU’s Koehler Center for Instruction, Innovation, and Engagement, and enjoys working collaboratively with the TCU community to support teaching and learning. Prior to joining the Koehler Center, Megan worked as a Science Curriculum Specialist in Fort Worth ISD, and as an Assistant Course Coordinator in the Center for Life Sciences Education at The Ohio State University. She is thrilled to be a TCU student again. Her interests include discipline-based educational research, and the development of pedagogical content knowledge.

Tonie Domino (2018)
Tonie earned her bachelor’s of science in biology (2008) at Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland, and went on to graduate with her DVM from the College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University (2013). After a short time as an associate in an equine/farm animal practice, she returned to Cornell in 2015 for a residency in ambulatory and production medicine (the specialty of preventative care and welfare for farm animals). She loved her teaching responsibilities as a resident and decided that she wanted further training in the field of education. Her research interests include how learning occurs at different phases of the veterinary curriculum (early basic sciences vs. later clinical reasoning), how veterinary students might use writing to study/learn, and how veterinarians communicate with their clients.

Callie Price (2017)
Callie Price earned her undergraduate and graduate degrees in Biology from Tarleton State University and is now a full-time instructor and lab coordinator for their Biology department. She came to TCU to further develop her passion for education into defined research skills and become a more effective researcher and educator for students.

Master's Candidates

Ronnie Cunningham (2019)
Captain (CPT) Ronnie Cunningham is a native of Oakland, California and is an active duty CPT in the U.S. Army. He enlisted in the Army in 2000, and after reaching the rank of Sergeant First Class, he was commissioned as an Infantry Officer in 2010 from the Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning. Upon commissioning, CPT Cunningham graduated Ranger School at Fort Benning, GA and earned his bachelor’s degree in Finance from Hawaii Pacific University (2013) while serving with D Company, 2-27 Infantry “Wolfhounds” in Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. CPT Cunningham has five combat deployments in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. He has commanded two companies and is currently the Assistant Professor of Military Science in the AddRan College at TCU. His awards and decorations include the Bronze Star Medal with Valor, Purple Heart, Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal with 4 OLC, Army Achievement Medal with 7 OLC, Presidential Unit Commendation Award, Valorous Unit Award, Navy Unit Commendation, Army Good Conduct Medal (3), Afghanistan Campaign Medal 2 Stars, Iraq Campaign Medal with 4 Stars, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Non-Commissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbon (3), Combat Infantryman’s Badge, Combat Action Badge, and Expert Infantryman’s Badge.  His Military Schooling includes Ranger School, Air Assault, Joint Fires Observer, Pathfinder, Jumpmaster and Airborne School. CPT Cunningham is married to the Tiffeny and has four boys, Ronnie age 11, Princeton age 10, Connor age 6, and Tyler age 3. He is honored for the opportunity to pursue his Master’s in Mathematics Education while educating the TCU’s Cadets on small unit tactics and Army leadership.

Yenyfer Lopera (2020)

Wendy Lamour (2015)
Perhaps it was inevitable that Wendy would go into the family business. Her dad was an Education Professor in South Texas, and her worked in an administrative position in the Education Department at UT Austin. Dinner conversation often centered on education policy, pedagogy and — a personal favorite of Wendy’s — testing and measurement. She spent almost twenty years as an engineer, but eventually gave in to the pull of teaching.  As a student, math always came naturally to her, so she tended to ignore her teachers and rely on her ability to figure things out on my own.  That strategy served her well to a point, but then she realized that by trying to reason through everything from scratch, she was ignoring an enormous body of knowledge that she could build on, rather than trying to recreate everything on her own. She applied to TCU when she reached a similar point in her teaching career.

Her modest aspiration is to save the world through math. Like a lot of teachers, she has an interest in inspiring the curiosity and inventiveness of students with the potential to solve some of the world’s greatest technical problems. But she is also very interested in identifying and cultivating the math skills that students with other gifts will need in order to be productive citizens and rational thinkers capable of organizing information in order to make good decisions. She wants to study the successes that others have had in these areas and then see what she can contribute to the field.

Science Education (Traditional)
Tamela Cook (2022)
Naomi Gutierrez (2022)
Karina Lazcano (2022)
Magdalena Salas (2022)
Lex Salazar (2022)
Tanya Warren (2022)

Mathematics Education (Traditional)
Wendy Larmour (2016)
Ronnie Cunningham (2018)
Mason Nantz

Mathematics Education (Accelerated)
Elli Strehli (2022)
Adele Morris (2022)
Gabbi Gentry (2022)

Marissa Briggs (2021)
Olivia Hernandez (2021)
Mason Nantz (2021)
Audrey Perry (2021)
Katy Stumb (2021)