Fiona has been a high school teacher, learning skills counselor, community college instructor and graduate lecturer in education. She completed a doctoral degree in cognitive psychology at the University of Toronto, where her research focused on academic learning strategies. This background helps her to communicate with different sectors of education and match university resources with current demands in science education.

"I see science as an excellent focus for integrating language and mathematics, especially when it is supported by innovative use of technology. The challenge is to coordinate people and resources so that science teachers can encourage their students to develop math and language skills as well as scientific knowledge."

Fiona also likes to incorporate elements of her previous role as a researcher in the evaluation of UCSB collaborations with local educators and scientists. We design various ways to collect information from students, teachers and scientists in our education outreach projects. Two of our projects have served as the topic of PhD theses for students in the UCSB Graduate School of Education. "We hope to document how students, teachers and scientists make distinctive contributions that help students to recognize how science influences their everyday world."

"The great thing about my job is that I get to use all those years of my science training, while doing education work which is most rewarding for me." Liu-Yen's science background includes a B.S. in Applied Physics from Caltech, and an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from USC. She originally came to UCSB as a graduate student in Materials, but got side-tracked into Education. She completed the teaching credential program at UCSB, teaching physics at two local high schools. In 1992, she began working with Fiona to run science education programs for the Center for Quantized Electronic Structures (QUEST).

"Working with students is always exciting - and always a challenge. How do we make the sophisticated science relevant to young kids? How do we find ways for high school and undergraduate students to work with graduate researchers in such a way that all parties have a valuable learning experience? We are always trying to improve the way we run our education programs to the benefit of all participants - not just for the younger students, but for the graduate students, post-doctoral researchers and faculty." .

Ofelia received her bachelors from Scripps College and M.S. in Chemistry from UC Santa Cruz. While still a graduate student at UC Santa Cruz, Ofelia became involved with the Baccalaureate Bridges to the Biomedical Sciences (ACCESS) Program, an outreach program that targets community college transfer students in science majors. After earning her M.S., Ofelia spent the following two years working in ACCESS to identify obstacles to success in the sciences for community college students. She then developed activities to increase transfer and graduation rate of these students from local community colleges to 4-year universities.

In 2001, Ofelia came to UC Santa Barbara and took a dual position on campus as the Regional Coordinator for the California Alliance for Minority Participation (CAMP) in Science, Engineering, & Mathematics and the Coordinator for Community College Special Programs in Admissions and Outreach Services. Her new role, as the Project Coordinator for Expanding Pathways to Science, Engineering, and Mathematics (EPSEM) combines both her areas of expertise in Transfer Admissions and Science Education.

"As a middle school and high school student I was a participant in many outreach programs such as the Mathematics Engineering and Science Achievement (MESA) and Early Academic Outreach (EAO). These programs gave me the knowledge and tools necessary to navigate through college and overcome many of the obstacles I faced as a first generation college student in the sciences. I am very excited about the EPSEM Program, because it allows me the opportunity to provide activities, resources, and support to high school, community college, and UCSB students from all backgrounds to ensure their success in Mathematics, Science, and Engineering majors."

Samantha joined the CNSI education programs team in February 2005. She began her career at CNSI working with the EPSEM program, she now works with both the INSET and LEAPS programs. Samantha graduated with a Bachelor's degree in English from Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1999 and earned a Master's degree in elementary education from New York University in 2004.She lived all over the United States and traveled extensively before settling down in Santa Barbara in January 2004. She began her work in Santa Barbara working as a substitute teacher in local elementary schools. Living with graduate students working towards advanced science degrees at UCSB her interest in science began to develop and grow and she decided to pursue a career where she could share her enthusiasm for science with others. When the opportunity came to combine her dedication to science with her passion for education by working with CNSI education programs she jumped at the opportunity.

"Science has always intrigued and fascinated me. While my personal advanced educational experiences have dealt more with the liberal arts I have always found my interests and extra-curricular motivations leaning towards the hard sciences. I believe that the people working in these fields have the opportunity to make a diference in the future of our world and our society, to be given the chance to help people achieve in that arena is more than I ever hoped for out of a career. Working at CNSI I have had the opportunity to share my personal strengths with science as I have watched them achieve, and as they have taught me, through their academic endeavors. I feel that every relationship I have entered into at CNSI has been mutually beneficial and I look forward to forging many more as the success of CNSI education programs continues. "