MMSA has been growing in recent months, and we invite you to join us in welcoming Maggie Foster, Kate Kastelein, Gary Lewis, and Hannah Cunningham to our team!
Maggie Foster led the current wave of new team members, joining MMSA as a research assistant in October 2015. She recently earned her B.A. in Psychology from Bates College. While at Bates, Maggie worked with the VA Clinic in Lewiston to study the use of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) to treat veterans with anxiety and depression. Maggie grew up in Maine, and is interested in the effort to provide students and educators in rural areas with access to STEM opportunities. She also loves being outdoors, and has worked as a swimming and kayaking instructor.
Kate Kastelein joined MMSA in December 2015 as a part-time research assistant. Kate has a degree in humanities from the University of Southern Maine. While at USM, she was a research assistant for a project examining media representation of women in specific court cases. Prior to working at MMSA, Kate was self-employed as a freelance writer and editor. Kate is a lifelong midcoast resident, and when not spending time with family, she writes childrens books.
Gary Lewis joins us as a STEM Education Specialist leading the WeatherBlur Next Generation project. He is a passionate Earth science educator who has been developing resources to assist teachers be more confident in teaching science since the mid-1990s. Gary studied in Sydney, Australia, and after a time teaching in small Australian country schools (general science, chemistry, biology, computer science) left the classroom to work as an educator and communicator for government departments in Australia. He moved to Colorado to work for the Geological Society of America, where he developed and established EarthCaching and other programs, and also worked on a citizen science portal (EarthTrek) with National Geographic and worked on intern programs with the National Park Service and other partners. He was awarded the National Park Service Directors Partnership Award in 2014.
We’re looking forward to Gary’s expertise in geoscience, citizen science, and communications taking WeatherBlur to the next level.
Hannah Cunningham is MMSA’s newest employee, joining us as a STEM Education Specialist working on the ACRES project. Hannah will be joining the ACRES project, and working half-time as she also continues her current half-time position teaching math at the Coastal School for Girls. Hannah’s specialty is math, but she’s also taught science and in both formal and informal contexts, and has volunteered with youth and run programs.
We’re very excited to add this array of talent to our staff.
