Candidates & Positions

Candidates for ASTE President

Richard Hechter

In a world full of uncertainty, unrest, and purposeful disinformation, the time to renew our mission, vision, and purpose in science education, both locally and globally, is now.

Right now.

At the heart of ASTE, both in recognizing our storied past, and also in intensely looking forward, is a safe and inclusive place for sharing innovative pragmatic teaching and learning approaches, encouraging timely and salient science education research, supporting world-wide partnerships and collaborations, and simply being a place to center one’s academic self. It’s our time to make this overtly visible and noteworthy.

We can facilitate this by fully embracing the knowledge and diversity of our current membership, while working to engage our not-yet-members living at home and abroad. We can further develop our association by not only welcoming members from all areas of science education, but also amplifying their voices. Through these actions, ASTE can, and should, lead by example in our complicated and layered educational landscape.

My leadership, vision, and truthfully, my continued perseverance in the Academy, emanates from mentorship, care, support, and inspiration of current and now-retired ASTE members. ASTE can positively impact people far beyond the annual conference, and for that we have a responsibility to continue moving towards this goal. While I have served on the Regional and ASTE Board before, it is now my turn to carry this forward in a greater capacity, and give back to the community that has given me so very much.

William (Bill) McComas

My willingness to serve ASTE as president is motivated by a desire to acknowledge and support an organization that plays such an important role in the professional lives of those engaged in the preparation of science teachers and teacher educators.

Our mission includes leadership and support for educators, tasks at which we excel. However, we do much more. I have watched ASTE mature to produce strong conferences, insightful journals, and a highly collegial network of increasingly diverse members. Therefore, my goal is simple – to maintain and nurture the trajectory we have established by encouraging growth, engagement, and service to members, with well-considered decision making and fiscal responsibility.

During three decades as a member, I have attended almost every conference, contributed articles to JSTE (and reviewed countless more), chaired the publications committee, served a term as board member and have been honored with the ASTE Mentorship and Outstanding Science Teacher Educator Awards. I have gained valuable leadership experiences beyond ASTE at NSTA (board member), IHPST (president) and NABT (board member and journal editor) which have provided important insights I hope to share as ASTE president.

I see ASTE as a “vital” organization in both senses of the word. We have become a vitally necessary and important community raising the stature of the profession of science teacher education. Moreover, ASTE is full of vital energy and support for our mission and members.

Teachers and those in ASTE who guide, inform, and mentor those educators together touch the future!

Candidates for Board of Directors at Large

Rita Hagevik
Karl Jung
Erin Peters-Burton
William Veal

Rita Hagevik

I am honored to be considered for the Board Member at Large position for ASTE. I am committed to service in the organization. I am a long-time and active member of ASTE which has supported me in so many ways during my academic career. Being a part of the ASTE community has allowed me to collaborate with many visionaries who are committed and talented science educators. My work with ASTE includes current conference co-chair (SLC 2023), member of publication committee, oversight committee, equity and ethics committee, conference reviewer (multiple years), a mentor during annual meetings, member of and chair of the environmental education forum, member and chair of the elections committee, member of the NTLI selection committee and former award winner, and a member of the awards committee and the technology committee. I served for eight years as an editorial board member for JSTE and was an editor of an ASTE-sponsored book. As a former teacher and currently a secondary science teacher educator, I am committed to social equity in the sciences and in education. My research focuses on sustainability, sustainable gardens, STEAM, GIS education, and Native science. As a Board Member at Large, I will promote ASTE by supporting STEM teachers and researchers, acting as a bridge between research and practice. I will work collegially with President-elect, other board members, to fulfill my duties. I will always keep ASTE’s mission of advancing practice and policy through scholarship, collaboration, and innovation while performing my duties as a board member.

Karl Jung

I am honored to be nominated to serve as an At Large Board Member on the ASTE Board of Directors. ASTE is where I find my academic and scholarly home, and throughout my time as both a graduate student and faculty member I have sought out opportunities to serve this organization and its mission to provide leadership and support for science teacher educators at all levels. My goal in joining the board of directors is to continue this service by providing leadership within the organization to ensure that there is clear communication across the members, support the work of committees by chairing/co-chairing them, and by participating in board member business to ensure that the organization is moving forward in a way that increases member participation and the organizations advocacy for high-quality science teacher education. In assuming this role, I hope to serve the professional development or membership committees, as these are two areas that are particularly important to me, and as a former member of the equity committee, I will engage in all my work with the ASTE board with an eye toward equity and inclusion within our organization. ASTE must be an organization that continues to strive for accessibility, community, and equity as we work to shape the future of science teacher education, and I very much want to be a part of keeping ASTE moving in that direction by serving in this capacity.

Erin Peters-Burton

I am seeking election as a Board Member at Large of the Association for Science Teacher Education (ASTE) because I would like to continue to support the community that has given me professional support for the past 14 years. I have served ASTE in various capacities since 2008. I became a member of ASTE in 2005 and started presenting at conferences in 2009, collaborating with colleagues and doctoral students over the years. I have volunteered as a conference proposal reviewer and session presider for the past 14 years and feel it is important to expand my contribution the ASTE community. I was appointed to the ASTE Professional Development Committee (2014-2016) where I participated in selecting and supporting high quality workshops for the conference, the Publications Committee (2015-2017) where I contributed to the development of ASTE’s new publication, Innovations in Science Teacher Education, and elected to the Elections committee where I served as Co-Chair from 2018-2020. In 2016, I was honored to have been awarded Outstanding Science Teacher Educator of the Year by ASTE. I have also served on the Editorial Advisory Board for JSTE from 2014 until 2020, when I became an Associate Editor of JSTE and will serve until 2025. If elected to the Board, I will actively seek ways that I can contribute to supporting science teacher education through ASTE and will commit wholeheartedly to the responsibilities assigned to the Board Members.

William Veal

In the 26 years that I have been a member of ASTE and involved in science teacher education, the landscape of science education and teacher preparation has changed considerably. Assessment and standards have guided our scholarly work, professional development, and content of what we teach. We are in position to provide innovation in science teacher education. I have seen our organization move from an implementer of the National Science Education Standards for science teachers to a producer and leader in policy reform and position statements on standards, assessment, professional development, and diversity. We currently face a decline in the number of people entering education and the retention of teachers. In the STEM fields, this fact is exacerbated. Our challenge going forward is to provide leadership and support to states and districts through scholarship and practice.

As a Board Member of ASTE, my focus will be to promote and support science teaching and science teacher preparation. We need to advocate for culturally relevant procedures that will enable people from all backgrounds to become science teachers at all levels. Teaching should be a profession with qualified individuals. One task of ASTE is to ensure that preservice and inservice science teachers are prepared to teach science with the best research-supported methods. We need to leverage this message and our expertise for developing more science teachers with local and state education agencies, science teacher organizations, and affiliate associations.

Candidates for Elections Committee

Emily Dare
Rebecca Hite
David Sparks
Colby Tofel-Grehl

Emily Dare

I am delighted to be nominated to the ASTE Elections committee! I have been a member of ASTE since 2012; since then, my love and appreciation for the organization and its members have grown tremendously. I have served ASTE in numerous ways, including as a committee member, regional representative to the board, proposal reviewer, conference presenter and presider, co-chair/chair of the Awards Committee, thread coordinator, editorial review board member for JSTE and Innovations in Science Teacher Education, and Associate Editor for JSTE. In looking for ways to be more involved in ASTE as an organization and learn more about our talented members, it seems only fitting to seek a position on the Elections Committee, who engage in the “behind the scenes” work to ensure strong leadership.

Those who know me know that I am detailed oriented and have rarely, if ever, missed a deadline. These skills are important for the members of the Elections Committee, who review and rank nomination materials. More importantly, though, members of the Elections Committee have the responsibility of educating ASTE members about opportunities to run for elected positions. This includes reaching all members who represent a wide range of talent and interests in science teacher education. Finding members who are collaborative, open-minded, and ready to face future challenges is important for maintaining strong leadership within ASTE. Ensuring that the nomination pool includes these individuals from an array of backgrounds is a task that I am eager to take on should I be elected.

Rebecca Hite

I have been involved in ASTE since I was a graduate student in 2015. In the seven to eight years since, I have had the opportunity to yearly review ASTE conference proposals, participate as an editorial board member of JSTE, publish in Innovations in Science Teacher Education (in 2019), and serve a three-year term on the ASTE equity committee. From 2017 to 2020, I had the great opportunity to serve as the equity liaison to the elections committee in which I participated in the thoughtful and supportive processes that its members put forth in their work for the organization. I was struck by how that committee both intentionally and meaningfully devised strategies to expand the understanding of and access to ASTE leadership positions. Since completing my term on the equity committee, I seek to join the elections committee so I can continue and support the important work related to ASTE’s mission in “promoting leadership and support” of scholars, collaborators, and innovators in the fields of science teacher education. If elected to the elections committee, I would like to apply my work in equity by continuing and advancing the committee’s work in recruiting diverse leaders, from across the organization, so more members may more fully participate in the current and future directions of the ASTE. To conclude, I acknowledge and accept the terms and responsibilities of being a member of the elections committee as stipulated in section 3B and Appendix I on page 17 and 56 of the ASTE operating procedures.

David Sparks

I welcome the opportunity to serve on the ASTE Elections Committee to assist in the selection of dynamic, visionary leadership for ASTE as we tackle the significant challenges of preparing quality math and science teachers. After working as a K-12 teacher for 21 years, I began my career in higher education in 2013 at the University of Texas at Arlington. I joined ASTE soon after, and presented at my first ASTE Conference in San Antonio, Texas in January 2014. Since then, I have participated in numerous ASTE international conferences, been active in Southwest ASTE, served on the ASTE Equity and Professional Development committees, and as a conference thread coordinator, presider, and reviewer. Since 2018, I have served on the Editorial Review Board for the Journal of Science Teacher Education (JSTE). My career as an educator has always been about innovation, change, and program improvement. In higher education, I have served as a program coordinator, member of the equity and diversity committee at two universities, and on the board of directors for the UTeach STEM Educators Association (USEA). I now serve as an assistant professor at the University of Texas Permian Basin and Co-Director for the newly-established UTeach Permian Basin program, which will kick off in Fall 2022. I understand the importance of the ASTE Elections Committee in selecting experienced leaders to carry on the work of ASTE, and I am up for the challenge. Thank you for this opportunity, and if elected I will serve diligently, faithfully, and without hesitation.

Colby Tofel-Grehl

ASTE has proven an important space for my own professional growth. As such, it is my hope to serve the organization in a way that furthers its mission of service for science teachers and professionals globally. I have been a member of ASTE for the past ten years, serving in various capacities including thread coordinator for educational technology. In 2020, I was honored with ASTE’s Level 1 Outstanding Science Teacher Educator of the Year for my work with rural science teachers. As someone who is passionate about equity, I see an opportunity to serve the community by supporting equitable access to the elections process. Many of our international ASTE colleagues report a lack of perceived access to participating in elections beyond voting. While we all have access to the same publicly posted information, often it is the social network and unspoken information that moves people forward within organizations. If elected, I would work to develop a series of webinars focused on building connections across our global ASTE community. By doing this, ASTE can facilitate community connections across geographic locations. I would also seek to explore ways to scaffold graduate students and other attending professionals into these committee spaces. By broadening the number of voices engaged, we can better develop initiatives that meet the needs of an evolving ASTE membership. I believe that broadening participation is essential to furthering the mission of ASTE. It is in service to these aspects of the ASTE mission that I submit my name for consideration.

Candidates for Graduate Student Board Member

Johannes Addido
Molly Staggs
Kate Walker

Johannes Addido

Dear ASTE Members,

I’m Johannes Addido, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Wyoming’s college of education and a graduate teaching assistant and co-teach a secondary science methods course. I’m vying for the position of ASTE graduate student board member and respectfully seek your votes. I’m the immediate past president of the Non-Traditional Student Council; a student group that advocates for the non-traditional student community at my university. Served as a member of the diversity council in the College of Education, and also worked as a member of the interdisciplinary pillar team- a University of Wyoming team of graduate students and professors who worked to fashion out ways to promote interdisciplinary scholarship at UW. I became a member of ASTE in 2020 and have presented at annual conferences, engaging with professors and doctoral students.

My gamut of experiences means I will bring on board an eye for excellence, a strong work ethic and leadership skills, a positive attitude even under pressure, and a willingness to learn. If given the chance to serve, I will bring on board a diversity of perspectives and backgrounds in discussions and decision-making regarding the promotion of graduate students’ scholarship at ASTE. My presentations at the past two ASTE conferences situate me in a position to help promote ASTE’s support for science teacher education at the graduate student level.

As a graduate student member of the ASTE Board, I will advocate for an inclusive ASTE environment where graduate students can learn and grow into productive science education professionals.

Molly Staggs

I am excited to have been nominated for the position of Graduate Student Board Member. ASTE provides science teacher educators with invaluable opportunities to learn with and from other professionals. These experiences are significant for ASTE’s graduate student members, who may be engaging in this type of professional development for the first time. Graduate students compose between a quarter and a third of ASTE’s total membership and represent the future of the organization and science teacher education. Therefore, it is essential ASTE continue to support graduate students in their professional growth. In the two years I have been a member of ASTE, I have personally benefitted from networking with professionals and other graduate students, learning from innovative research presentations, and presenting my research. As Graduate Student Board Member, I would ensure ASTE’s graduate student members are well represented and continue to be provided with opportunities to make connections and develop professionally, such as mentoring programs and sessions geared toward graduate students. In recent years, the Graduate Student Forum has made great strides for graduate student members by adding additional programs such as the online “Mini-in-May” conference and advocating for graduate student representation on the ASTE Board of Directors. Should I be elected as Graduate Student Board Member, I plan to work closely with the Graduate Student Forum to increase graduate student involvement in ASTE and give a voice to ASTE’s graduate student members. I would be honored to serve as your Graduate Student Board Member.

Kate Walker

I am seeking nomination for the position as the graduate student board member. My goals are to improve higher education by refining teaching techniques, the development of science content, and the process of learning in science education courses. None of these professional goals will be possible without effective communication among leaders in the field of science education. I have been surrounded among the leaders and experts in ASTE to listen, learn and communicate by finding and supporting common goals. Over three short years I have found ways to increase my involvement and communicate within ASTE through the PD Committee, presiding, presenting, and reviewing proposals for the National Conference.

Broadly my goal is to enhance communication between the ASTE committees. I have practical experience at my own institution in engaging in collaborations across departments to successfully improve education courses for our students. I foresee my role on the Board as supporting communication of the standard operating procedures to all ASTE committees and affiliates as well as assisting directors and leaders as called upon. I will be a voice at the meetings to link ideas between committees and discuss concerns of the members to the Board and support science teacher education if elected.