Teaching Academy 2023 Presenters

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Jacob Barnett (he/him) has been a PhD student in the Organismic and Evolutionary Biology Program at UMass since Fall 2017. Before coming to UMass, he worked as a middle and high school biology teacher in the Boston suburbs for six years and earned a M.Ed. in Science Education from Lesley University in 2011. He has been a Teaching Assistant for four different courses in the Biology Department at UMass. He also taught a first-year seminar called "Champions of Curiosity" through the College of Natural Sciences Teaching Fellows program in 2019 and 2020. 

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Lilliauna Hopkins (she/they) is a 4th year PhD student in the UMass Political Science Department. With her own first-hand experience navigating teaching assistantships at UMass, she brings 7 years of mentoring/leadership experience from both undergraduate and graduate leadership roles. She has assisted in instructing 8 courses in the UMass Political Science Department, and 2 courses at the Norfolk State Student Success and Learning Center. Outside of her academic work, she thoroughly enjoys engaging with, mentoring, inspiring, and interacting with individuals of all backgrounds and skill sets. As she often says, “you can learn something from anyone if you’re willing to look.” 

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Elenita Irizarry Ramos (she/her) has over a decade of experience in teaching in K-12 multilingual environments. She is a proud first-generation alumna of the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez Campus (UPRM). Elenita completed her doctoral studies in Curriculum and Teaching at the University of Puerto Rico at Rio Piedras (UPRRP). She was a Visiting Scholar at Indiana University-Bloomington, an Assistant Professor at UPRRP, and a Lecturer at UMass Amherst. Her research includes documenting "Puerto Rican English Teachers’ Perception of Resilience in the Aftermath of Hurricane María.” As a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Bilingual and Dual Language Education, Equity, and Inclusion, Elenita is interested in researching ways to ensure Bilingual Education and Dual Language programs are equitable and inclusive. Additionally, she serves as the Western Massachusetts Bilingual Hub Program Coordinator, where she monitors the implementation of program policies and practices. In addition to working as an educator, researcher, and public speaker, Dr. Irizarry has been a consultant for College Board, where she has collaborated in research projects and test development in Puerto Rico and Latin America. In her spare time, she enjoys working with underserved communities. Elenita is a self-proclaimed idealist who hopes to contribute to society and make the world a better and more inclusive place. She believes researching ways to improve educational practices brings us one step closer to a more equitable world.

Mustafa Erdem Kusdil (he/him) - bio coming soon

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Erica Light (she/her/hers/they/them/theirs) is a PhD student in the Math, Science, and Learning Technologies Program in the College of Education. She brings with her 6 years experience in life-science laboratory education and has been involved in the instruction of 10 different science courses at UMass ranging from pre-college to senior-level. Erica’s favorite style of teaching is student-driven learning that integrates the natural and social sciences.

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Miranda Lutyens (she/her) is a PhD student in Composition and Rhetoric in the English Department. She teaches College Writing and Writing, Identity, and Power. She has served as a Graduate Assistant Director in the Writing Program, where she mentored first-year teaching associates, and as a tutor in the Writing Center. Prior to coming to UMass, Miranda spent fifteen years teaching secondary English Language Arts, first in the Boston Public Schools and then at the American School of Lima, Peru.

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Anna McCarter (she/her) is a Ph.D. candidate in the Cognition & Cognitive Neuroscience Program. She has taught Junior Writing in Psychology and Methods of Inquiry in Psychology. Her research explores visual long-term memory and ways to improve it. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking, board games, and traveling.

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Paola Pimentel Furlanetto (she/her) is a fifth year PhD student in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research and an ELEVATE Fellow at UMass Amherst Energy Transition Institute. Her research utilizes mathematical modeling to investigate how to transition our current Power System, making it more sustainable and equitable. As a member of ELEVATE, Paola has collaborated with multidisciplinary scholars and interacted with the public, learning  how to utilize gamification strategies to start conversations and exchange knowledge. The Energy Transition is a challenging task that requires all hands on deck, there is no Planet B, the game is hot and running!

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Ann-Marie Sylvia (she/her) is a fourth year kinesiology PhD student in the Pediatric Physical Activity Lab. She first began working with neurodivergent students during her undergraduate program at Bridgewater State University and she quickly fell in love with this often invisible and highly marginalized community. Her research focuses on physical activity as a viable support service for neurodivergent populations. Both her research and personal teaching philosophy is grounded in the idea of “meeting people where they are” to foster inclusion and belongingness while empowering differing learning styles.