DBER-SiT Bylaws and Elections Subcommittee

The Bylaws and Elections Subcommittee has a two fold mission: create and maintain the bylaws of DBER Scholars-in-Training (DBER-SiT), and conduct the annual election for the Leadership positions.

With respect to the bylaws, the subcommittee will:

Draft the initial bylaws
Get the drafted bylaws approved by the larger DBER-SiT community.
Make revisions as and when needed.

With respect to the elections, the subcommittee will:

Decide the election timeline
Call for nominations
Prepare the ballot
Conduct the elections
Confirm and announce the results.

For more information about this subcommittee or to volunteer on this subcommittee please contact: Rachel Sparks (she/her) at raspar1@ilstu.edu or Ryan Dunk (he/they) at ryan.dunk@unco.edu.

Here are the current Bylaws and Elections Subcommittee members:

Rachel Sparks

she/her/hers

Co-Chair

Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Rachel took a brief detour to southern Ohio to earn her BS in secondary science education at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. She subsequently returned back to the Cleveland area to teach high school biology, chemistry, and earth and space science, at which point she became interested in exploring effective methods of teaching evolutions and genetics. Rachel is now a PhD Candidate at Illinois State University in the Research to Establish a Scientifically Informed SocieTy (RESIST) lab led by Rebekka Darner. Her dissertation research focuses on culturally responsive methods of teaching culturally laden topics, specifically evolution, to nonmajors and pre-service teachers. Her other research interests include how STEM teachers develop agency regarding their roles in perpetuating or narrowing opportunity gaps and STEM teachers’ motivation to teach in underserved schools. When she isn’t working on her research or teaching, you can find Rachel rewatching Star Trek, attempting to make a dent in her reading list, or cooking. She and her partner also enjoy traveling outside of central Illinois and spending time with their three cats, one dog, and three goldfish.

Email: raspar1@ilstu.edu; Twitter: @RachelASparks

Ryan Dunk

he/they

Co-Chair

Ryan was born and raised in Wisconsin, where he completed both his B.S. and M.S. degrees in the University of Wisconsin system (at UW-Parkside and UW-Milwaukee, respectively). While at UWM, Ryan tried fervently to pursue a degree program that involved biology education research, being consistently told that it was not the work of a biology department to support someone interested in such a problem. Moving to the PhD program at Syracuse University, Ryan learned that DBER and BER are real things and plenty of people recognize its value.

Ryan completed his PhD (Biology, with a Certificate in University Teaching) at Syracuse in summer 2020 working with Jason Wiles. He studied factors that affect student acceptance of evolution, and has published multiple papers and attended dozens of conferences in support of that work as well as his work in increasing equity in biology education. He is currently a postdoctoral researcher working with Emily Holt at the University of Northern Colorado, studying student vs. expert conceptions of the biotic impacts of climate change.

Ryan has a lot of hobbies and is bad at focusing on any of them long enough to be good enough to brag about them. He is usually on the internet.

Email: ryan.dunk@unco.edu; Twitter: @dunkryan

Past Members of the Bylaws & Elections Subcommittee:

Joelyn de Lima, former Chair

Joelyn is a founding member of DBER-SiT and served as the Chair of the Bylaws & Elections Subcommittee from July 2019 until September 2020. Prior to serving in this capacity, she was a Co-Chair of the Media Subcommittee (July 2018-July 2019).