Tech Talk Tuesdays – Citizen Science

What do you get when you combine scientific research, student participation, and technology? Citizen Science! Tech Talk Tuesday is proud to present our November session, Citizen Science, where we invite UD faculty and staff to share their experiences with the implementation of this research method where students use transformative technologies to gather and contribute data. For this session, we welcome, Dr. Zoubeida Dagher (College of Education & Human Development), Dr. Pamela Mosley (College of Arts & Sciences), Chris Petrone (College of Earth, Ocean, & Environment), David Christopher (College of Earth, Ocean, & Environment), and Kevin Brinson (College of Earth, Ocean, & Environment) as they share ideas of how Citizen Science can be used to promote student learning and affect public policy.

Professor of Science Education
College of Education and Human Development

Dr. Zoubeida R. Dagher is a professor of science education at the School of Education and a faculty fellow at the Center for Science, Ethics, and Public Policy at the University of Delaware. She is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award, from the International History and Philosophy of Science Teaching (IHPST) Community. Her research interests focus on the nature of scientific methods and practices and representations of scientific epistemology in science curriculum and instruction and clinical digital simulations in science teacher education. Dr. Dagher has coauthored a book titled Reconceptualizing the Nature of Science for Science Education (2014). She teaches a graduate course for teachers on Citizen Science.

Program Manager, ISSL
College of Arts and Sciences

Dr. Mosley is a member of the Interdisciplinary Science Learning Laboratories (ISLL) teaching team that concentrates on the integrated introductory biology and chemistry course sequence for life science majors. She earned her B.S. and Ph.D. in chemistry at Duke University. Prior to coming to the UD, she completed postdoctoral work in chemistry education at Michigan State University. Her research interests center broadly around undergraduate student success and also include exploring the impact of online resources on student learning, and developing and studying the impact of interventions that build student understanding of mathematics.

Director, Delaware Sea Grant Marine Advisory Service
College of Earth, Ocean, & Environment

Christopher Petrone is the Director of the Delaware Sea Grant Marine Advisory Service (MAS), which is housed within the University of Delaware’s College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment. Based at the UD Hugh R. Sharp Campus in Lewes, Chris leads eight extension and education specialists who work with communities and partners to solve environmental issues using the best available science. He maintains a small programmatic portfolio that includes best practices in staff onboarding and professional development, program development and evaluation, research translation, and Broader Impacts. Prior to his current position, Chris was the Marine Education Specialist with Delaware Sea Grant, conducting professional development opportunities for teachers and K-16 student and lifelong learning programs in ocean and climate science and wind energy. Chris has a B.S. in Biology from Washington College (Maryland) and an M.S. in Marine Biosciences from the University of Delaware. Prior to working with Delaware Sea Grant, he has been a classroom teacher, commercial oyster farmer, and a Marine Education Specialist with Virginia Sea Grant and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science.

Sea Grant Marine Education Specialist
College of Earth, Ocean, & Environment

David Christopher is the Marine Education Specialist for Delaware Sea Grant at the University of Delaware where he conducts K-16 marine education on University of Delaware’s Lewes campus, assists researchers with the educational outreach portions of their projects, and hosts teacher workshops. David has B.A. in Biology from St. Mary’s College of Maryland and an M.Ed. from Goucher College.  Prior to coming to Delaware Sea Grant, he worked in the Education Department at the National Aquarium for 18 years.  David is active in the Delaware Association for Environmental Education, the Mid-Atlantic Marine Education Association, and National Marine Educators Association (NMEA).  David served as NMEA president from July 2021-July 2022 and currently is the chair of the Delaware Association for Environmental Education.  In 2024, NMEA honored David with the James Centorino award for outstanding work and leadership in marine education at the local, regional, and national level.

Delaware State Climatologist
Director, Center for Environmental Monitoring & Analysis
College of Earth, Ocean, & Environment

Kevin Brinson is the Delaware State Climatologist and Director of Center for Environmental Monitoring & Analysis at the University of Delaware. Previously, Kevin served as the Director of the Delaware Environmental Observing System (or DEOS) Network, which is the official real-time weather monitoring network for the state of Delaware.  Kevin completed his PhD in Climatology in 2023 and was appointed as an Assistant Research Professor in the Department of Geography and Spatial Sciences at the University of Delaware later that year. His research is primarily focused on how water varies in the environment relative to climate processes, also known as hydroclimatology.