02/18/09 GREENWICH PUBLIC SCHOOL PRESS RELEASE: Science Education In The 21st Century - Panelist Bios

Mr. Andrew Bramante: Chemistry & Research Teacher, Greenwich High School
Mr. Bramante has been a teacher with the Greenwich Public Schools since 2005 and an Adjunct Professor at Sacred Heart University since 1988. He began his career in Science as a Flavor Chemist for Fritzsche, Dodge & Olcott (1984-85). He has also worked for the Foxboro Company as an Infrared Spectroscopy Applications Scientist (1987-89); Hitachi Instruments as a Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Scientist (1989-92); and PerkinElmer Instruments as an UV-Vis, NIR, and Fluoresence Spectroscopist (1992-2005). He received his B.S. in 1984 and his M.S. in 1987 both from Fordham University, New York City, NY.

Ms. Sheila Civale: PreK-12 Science Program Coordinator, Greenwich Public Schools
Ms. Civale began teaching high school Science in 1992 at Darien High School, Darien, CT. After 10 years in Darien, she moved to the New Fairfield Public School District as the Technology Educator for the Consolidated School – New Fairfield’s K-2 school. In 2002, she became a Science teacher at New Fairfield High School (NFHS), teaching Earth Science and Chemistry. In 2005, Ms. Civale added ‘6-12 Science Department Head’ to her teaching title in New Fairfield. Ms. Civale served as the NFHS Coordinator for Project CLEAR, an environmental education strategy designed to foster support and involvement in watershed protection programs. Ms. Civale received her Bachelor of Science in Biology from Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, IN in 1976; her Secondary Teaching Certificate from John Carroll University, University Heights, OH in 1987; and her M.A. in Teaching (1991) and her Sixth Year Certificate in Educational Leadership and Administration (2006), both from Sacred Heart University, Fairfield, CT.

Mr. John DeLuca: Science Program Administrator, Greenwich High School
Mr. DeLuca has been with the District since 2002, first as Science teacher at Greenwich High School and since 2006 as Program Administrator for the department. He also taught Science for four years at Central High School in Bridgeport, CT. Mr. DeLuca received his B.S. in Secondary Science Education from the University of Scranton, Scranton, PA in 1997 and his Master’s Degree in Environmental Education in 2002 and his Sixth Year Certificate in 2006 both from Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven, CT.

Dr. David Eustice: Executive Director, Greenwich Science Center
“Having earned his PhD in Biology from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Binghamton, Dr. Eustice continued with his Post-Doctoral fellowships at Dartmouth Medical School in Pharmacology and Toxicology, and at the University of Rochester in Microbiology and Biochemistry. Dr. Eustice’s distinguished scientific career includes roles as Research Biochemist and Principal Investigator at DuPont in the Medical Products and Viral Diseases Groups, as well as Senior Research Investigator with Bristol-Meyers Squibb in the Microbial Biochemistry and Genetics Department. More recently, he served as Senior Staff Scientist at Bayer Corp. in a variety of disciplines including High Throughput Screen, Robotics and Automation, and DNA Sequencing. … Dr. Eustice also spent several years in the Biotech industry pioneering new drug discovery techniques. Dr. Eustice has been published on over 20 occasions in major scientific journals on a variety of topics, including new pharmaceutical agents, genomic structure and chromosome location, antibacterial agents, selenium toxicity, etc.” (excerpt from Greenwich Science Center Web Site)

Dr. David Moss: Assoc. Professor, Dept. of Curriculum and Instruction in the Neag School of Education, University of Connecticut
Dr. Moss specializes in environmental education and science teacher education with research interests in the areas of international education, environmental education, and teacher education reform. Dr. Moss has been published extensively in his field and recently authored Interdisciplinary Education in an Age of Assessment (Routledge, 2008), Portrait of a Profession: Teachers and Teaching in the 21st Century (Praeger, 2005), and Beyond the Boundaries: A Transdisciplinary Approach to Learning and Teaching (Praeger, 2003). Dr. Moss is the recent recipient of the University of Connecticut Teaching Fellow Award – the highest university-wide honor conferred for instructional excellence and leadership. He has extensive curriculum development and assessment experience on projects funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the U.S. Department of Educaiton, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). He completed his undergraduate work at Alfred University, NY and earned his Ph.D. from the University of New Hampshire.

Ms. Denise Savageau: Director, Conservation Commission, Town of Greenwich
Ms. Savageau has served as Conservation Director for the Town of Greenwich Conservation Commission since 1997 and works to protect the natural and cultural resources of the Town. She also serves on several state and national committees including the Governor’s Climate Change Adaptation Subcommittee where she is co-chairing a work group on Infrastructure. She is a member of the National Association of Conservation Districts where she chairs a Task Force on the Reauthorization of the Clean Water Act. Ms. Savageau is a trained facilitator for the CT Department of Environmental Protection’s environmental education programs and serves on the Science Committee for the Bruce Museum in Greenwich. She formerly worked as District Manager for the Hartford County Soil and Water Conservation District.
She is a graduate of the University of Connecticut with a B.S. in Agricultural Economics with a concentration in Environmental Economics and Natural Resource Management.

Dr. Leigh Shemitz: Executive Director, SoundWaters
Dr. Shemitz has been the Executive Director for Sound Waters since 2005. She has an extensive background in environmental studies. Before joining SoundWaters, Dr. Shemitz served as a lecturer at Yale University in 2004, researching the connection between the environment and human well-being. She worked as an environmental health researcher at Yale (1999 to 2004), investigating air pollution in urban areas; served as the Director of the Yale Urban Resources Initiative (1992 to 1999); and served in the Peace Corps as a community forester in Mali, West Africa (1987 to 1989). Dr. Shemitz currently serves on the Board of Directors of the New Haven Urban Resource Initiative. Dr. Shemitz received her B.A. in history and literature from Harvard University, and her Master’s in forest science and her Ph.D. in environmental health both from Yale University.

Moderator, Mr. Chris Winters: Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Professional Learning, Greenwich Public Schools
In his current role, since July 2007, Chris has overall responsibility for all curriculum areas. His previous positions with the district include: Coordinator of the English as a Second Language (ESL) Program (1999-2006), Coordinator of the World Language Program (2003-2006) and Folsom Housemaster at Greenwich High School in 2006-2007. Chris began his career in education in 1990 as an ESL teacher in the Bronx, N.Y at Morris High School, after serving for two years in the Peace Corps in the Republic of Mali, West Africa. In 1998 he moved to Roxbury Elementary School in Stamford, CT and then in 2000 to the Greenwich Public Schools. Chris received his B.A. in Political Science from Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT in 1986; his M.A. in TESOL in 1992 and his M.Ed. in Education in 1997 both from Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, N.Y.; his sixth Year Degree in Administration from Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, CT in 1998; and his Superintendent’s Certification from the University of Connecticut’s Executive Leadership Program in 2005. Chris is currently working toward a doctorate in education at the University of Connecticut’s Neag School of Education in Storrs, CT.

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