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PEER Physics Team
Shelly is a passionate advocate for inclusive science education. As a student who was once excluded from science herself, Shelly became motivated to dedicate her career to supporting all students in finding belonging in science. She began teaching science in a low-income high school in north Denver, where she found it challenging to create inquiry-based lesson plans amidst all of the other teaching demands. Her discovery of the inquiry-based Physics and Everyday Thinking (PET) curriculum transformed her classroom. As Shelly implemented PET, she observed her students building science ideas from evidence and her classes coming alive in ways that aligned perfectly with her mission to invite her students into scientific fields. Together with Valerie Otero, one of the original authors of PET, she founded PEER Physics as a way to more broadly disseminate inclusive physics education resources. Shelly, Emily, and Valerie comprise the Executive Team at PEER Physics, collaborating to shape the organization’s vision and provide essential support for all teams to advance the PEER Physics mission. In her role as PEER Physics director, Shelly holds the larger picture of the business plan and nurtures client relationships, guiding them from their initial engagement with PEER Physics through the intricacies of tailored partnerships. Shelly is also the Chief Editor and directs the development and dissemination of new curricular materials in collaboration with the Development Team. She is passionate about connecting with potential teachers and district partners to explore whether their instructional goals align with the PEER Physics pedagogy and mission.
Emily is committed to creating student-centered learning environments in science classrooms. She believes in equity and inclusion in education and works to provide teachers with the necessary strategies and resources to empower them in their practice. Emily‘s teaching career began in high-needs communities, where she observed her students’ unique challenges and worked to nurture their immense potential. Shelly, Emily, and Valerie comprise the Executive Team at PEER Physics, collaborating to shape the organization’s vision and provide essential support for all teams to advance the PEER Physics mission. As Director of Professional Learning, Emily oversees the design and facilitation of transformative professional learning for the teachers partnering with the project. She also trains and mentors teacher leaders to become highly skilled facilitators in their own contexts. Emily collaboratively weaves together the vision and mission of PEER Physics with the needs of partner schools and districts. She also serves an important role in the project’s administration, overseeing finances and managing contracts with partners and vendors, ensuring PEER Physics’ stability and long-term success. Emily inspires her colleagues and students with her dedication and kindness in her mission to enhance the quality of science education. Her goal is to help more students learn how to rely on evidence and consensus, which in turn can help foster a love for physics and a lifelong commitment to critical thinking and problem-solving.
Valerie is a distinguished physics education researcher who is deeply committed to enhancing students‘ love for science and physics. She is a key member of the PEER Physics team, and has actively contributed to its development and growth since its inception. Valerie is a first-generation Chicana college student and an experienced educator who has taught at various levels since 1995. Her tireless dedication to helping students find joy in physics is evident in the PEER Physics community of learners, who support one another and the teachers with whom they work. Shelly, Emily, and Valerie comprise the Executive Team at PEER Physics, collaborating to shape the organization’s vision and provide essential support for all teams to advance the PEER Physics mission. As Faculty Liaison at PEER Physics, Valerie supports graduate students with their research goals and serves as Course Coordinator for Energy and Interactions, an undergraduate science course that implements the PEER Physics curriculum. This course provides non-science majors and preservice teachers with the opportunity to experience the transformative power of inducing physics principles from evidence and class consensus. Valerie also works in collaboration with the PEER Physics Development Team to generate and revise new curricular resources.
Jorge is a retired Brazilian physics professor with varied career experiences, including business leadership in the computing industry,teaching high school physics, and performing physics research in higher education contexts. He is passionate about how science education plays an important role in social mobility and in developing future citizens. As a lecturer and educator in Brazil, Jorge was involved in a program aimed at helping underprivileged Brazilian students gain entry to public universities, which later evolved into a free YouTube resource that has been utilized by over 15 million students. During a sabbatical year at CU Boulder in 2014, Jorge became acquainted with the PEER Physics project through the Physics department’s Physics Education Research group. He began collaborating with the team in various ways, for instance, collecting video recordings of classes and reviewing and writing new curriculum materials. Jorge experienced firsthand the effectiveness of the PEER Physics project’s vision and pedagogy, as well as its positive impact on students, considering it a life-changing experience. Upon his return to the project in 2022, Jorge has been actively involved in implementing PEER Physics at the undergraduate level and participating with the Development Team.
Julian is a motivated and enthusiastic physics education researcher fascinated by the natural world and how scientists seek to understand it. Since joining the PEER Physics team in 2016 as a graduate student, Julian has taken on various roles, including teaching and curriculum development. Julian cares deeply about ensuring that all students feel empowered by participating in a scientific community and developing scientific ideas. As an undergraduate instructor, he supports non-science majors at CU Boulder in rediscovering their passion for science. At PEER Physics, Julian researches teacher empowerment and student attitudes and beliefs towards science. He is a skilled author and developer for PEER Physics, where he collaborates with the Development Team to generate new curricular resources.
Daniela was born in Guatemala and raised by a mother who instilled a love for learning early on. In her career as a science educator, Daniela’s goal has always been to promote an atmosphere of curiosity and love for science in her classrooms. She sees education as a powerful tool for assisting both students and teachers in achieving their life goals. As a middle school physical science and math teacher, Daniela connected with the inquiryand lab-based approach of PEER Physics. She found that PEER Physics helped foster the classroom environment she had always wanted but struggled to cultivate. After implementing the PEER Physics curriculum and participating in professional learning, the PEER Physics mission of "Cultivating expert learners, not just expert knowers" resonates deeply with Daniela. At PEER Physics, Daniela is a committed and passionate professional learning facilitator and teacher leader.
Taylor is a science educator and graduate student devoted to creating learning spaces where students can engage in science discourse. Prior to collaborating with PEER Physics, Taylor taught middle school math and science. She was committed to transforming her classroom into a space where every student could contribute and thrive. She has witnessed the transformative power of scientific discourse in supportive and productive academic environments, and these experiences laid the foundation for Taylor’s graduate work with PEER Physics. Working with PEER Physics has been a tremendous source of inspiration for her, as it exemplifies everything she wants for her students and fellow teachers – empowerment through science and science education.
Catalina is a graduate student who thinks teaching with tenderness and care begins when we believe all students can achieve profound scientific understanding, partake in scientific production, and feel a sense of belonging. As a teacher with a background in astrophysics who cares deeply about science learning, she believes that traditional, lecture-based science teaching excludes students by promoting hypercompetitiveness, individualism, and feelings of failure. In contrast, she has found in PEER Physics a way to blur the boundaries of who gets to do science and who gets to participate in knowledge production while also supporting the growth of students within the field. At PEER Physics, Catalina works as an undergraduate instructor and also works with the Development Team to translate PEER Physics into Spanish, bringing together her native language and physics expertise to help disseminate inquiry-based learning to more students.
Special Thanks
Curriculum Developers: Shelly Belleau, Valerie Otero, Emily Quinty, Julian Martins, Jorge Simões de Sá Martins, Michael Ross
Graphics and Photographs: Glenn Asakawa, Ichigo Takikawa, Laura Hansman, Shelly Belleau, Judy Stachurski
Professional Learning Facilitators: Emily Quinty, Daniela del Cid, Alex Carpenter, Julian Martins, Melissa Kovar, Kali Hines, Sarah Weir, Shelly Belleau, Valerie Otero
PEER Physics Summer Innovators: 2023: Daniela Del Cid, Amy Melby, Melissa Kovar, Monica Herzog, Robert Schretzman; 2022: Daniela Del Cid, Shayna Goldstein, Marni Jacobs; 2020: Khadijih Mitchell, Marni Jacobs, Tara Lozen, Kaija Reinelt; 2019: Nicole Schrode, Shannon Wachowski
Facilitator Interns: Angie Berk, Mary Frances Harris, Susan Swan, Philip Root, Chris Asmann, Steven Sjostedt, Marci Harvey, Shayna Goldstein, Monica Herzog, Michael Sarbanes, Taylor Fallik
Pilot Teachers: Emily Knapp, Nicole Schrode, MaryBeth Cheversia, Jared Sommervold, Adam Francis, Bridget Malloy, Jenni Keil, Rebecca Stober
Field Test Teachers: Nicole Schrode, Rebecca Stober, Lize Nel, Michael Ross, Gregory Gale, Shannon Wachowski
Reviewers: Jorge Simões de Sá Martins, David Meltzer, Pam Krause, Caleb Ulliman, Philippe Guegan, Brynn Reiff, Julian Martins, William Lindsay, Taylor Marino, Khadijih Mitchell, Shayna Goldstein
