Biographical Sketches of Authors
Marilyn Fenichel is a science and education writer and editor and principal of Cassell & Fenichel Communications, LLC (http://www.cassellfenichel.com). She has worked full-time for J.B. Lippincott, the National Geographic Society, and the National Science Resources Center, an agency associated with the Smithsonian Institution and the National Academies, both in Washington, DC. She has worked with corporations and nonprofits, textbook companies and multimedia venues, including Annenberg Media and Discovery Communications. She has written newsletters, film scripts, position papers, website content, annual reports, and catalog copy. She also has expertise in developing educational products, including lesson plans, activity sheets, facilitators’ guides, and teachers’ guides. One of Ms. Fenichel’s most ambitious projects was writing Science for All Children, a book on science education reform for the National Science Resources Center. She is a member of the National Association of Science Writers and the National Association of Professional Women and has participated in conferences sponsored by the National Science Teachers Association and Washington Independent Writers. She graduated cum laude from Bryn Mawr College with an A.B. in English literature.
Heidi A. Schweingruber is the deputy director of the Board on Science Education at the National Research Council. She has been involved in all of the major projects of the board since it was formed in 2004 and has presented widely on the board’s work. She served as study director for a congressionally mandated review of NASA’s pre-college education programs and codirected the study that produced the 2007 report Taking Science to School: Learning and Teaching Science in Grades K-8. She was a primary author on the practitioner’s version of this report titled, Ready, Set, Science! Putting Research to Work in K-8 Science Classrooms (2008) which won a 2008 distinguished achievement award from the Association of Educational Publishers for resources in professional development.
She also served as a research associate on America’s Lab Report: Investigations in High School Science (2005). Prior to joining the National Research Council, Dr. Schweingruber worked as a senior research associate at the Institute of Education Sciences in the U.S. Department of Education. In that role, she served as a program officer for the preschool curriculum evaluation program and for a grant program in mathematics education. Previously, she was the director of research for the Rice University School Mathematics Project, an outreach program in K-12 mathematics education, which serves schools and districts in the greater Houston area, and taught in the psychology and education departments at Rice University. Dr. Schweingruber holds a Ph.D. in psychology (developmental) and anthropology, and a certificate in culture and cognition from the University of Michigan.
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
Advisers to the Nation on Science, Engineering, and Medicine
The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone is president of the National Academy of Sciences.
The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Charles M. Vest is president of the National Academy of Engineering.
The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Harvey V. Fineberg is president of the Institute of Medicine.
The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone and Dr. Charles M. Vest are chair and vice chair, respectively, of the National Research Council.