BEST (Boston Energy in Science Teaching) GRANT ANNOUNCEMENT

The Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Division is excited to announce Roxbury Community College’s involvement in the Boston Energy in Science Teaching (BEST) grant. BEST is a $2.1 million dollar National Science Foundation Phase II Math-Science Partnership grant. Through this grant, RCC will continue to work with the University of Massachusetts Boston, Northeastern University, and Boston Public Schools as an extension of our work with the Boston Science Partnership. The purpose of this project is to research the impact of using energy as a theme to integrate the sciences on student achievement and faculty research interests. As part of the first year of work this past year, Dr. Stacey Olson, Assistant Professor, participated in the Energy I and Energy II courses at UMass Boston. Her participation will result in creating a stronger focus on energy concepts in the General Science course and using energy to connect the different science disciplines of biology, chemistry, physics, and earth science so that students are able to better understand science as a whole. During this past year, Dr. Kyrsis Rodriguez did a wonderful job to solidify RCC as a core partner while Dr. Tala Khudairi was on leave overseas carrying out teaching and research as RCC’s first Fulbright Scholar. Dr. Tala Khudari, Dean of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM), will resume a role on the BEST leadership team for the next two years. Dr. Brenda Mercomes, Vice President of Academic Affairs, serves on the Executive Board of BEST and was instrumental in securing RCC as a partner in BEST.