Post-Docs Travel and Present at Summer Conferences

Cassie Mohr at MathFest in Sacremento, CA

Dr. Andrew Puente: This summer, I had the pleasure to travel to the 2025 ASCN Transforming Institutions Conference in St. Louis, MO and the 2025 Gordon Conference on Chemical Education Research and Practice in Lewiston, ME. At ASCN, I presented some of the work that I did as a part of ACT-STEM. At both conferences, I saw cutting-edge research in STEM and chemical education, including the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to increase students' motivation and engagement in introductory chemistry coursework. AI was a big point of discussion at Gordon, with researchers concerned over both its use as a tool and as an obstacle in chemical education. 

Dr. Cassie Mohr: I recently attended MAA MathFest in Sacramento, CA. I gave a talk on my early career research experiences titled “The Human Side of Error: A Mathematician’s Journey from Computation to Classroom.” I also presented a poster with Cory Wang, a math education Ph.D. student at MTSU, titled “More Than the Sum: A Four Frames Analysis of Mathematics Departmental Teaching Culture.” I had a wonderful time engaging with mathematics, mathematics education, and puppies: three of her favorite things! 

Dr. Mary Foley: This summer, I "fed two birds with one worm" by attending back-to-back conferences at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.  At the Science Communication Education Network (SCERN) meeting, I connected with researchers and joined a project investigating the benefits of participatory science training for students and instructors.  At the Society for the Advancement of Biology Education Research (SABER) conference, I learned about TA professional development from last year's CURE TAPestry fellows.  I was awarded a fellowship for this group for the upcoming academic year, and I look forward to helping develop TAs as inclusive mentors.