United States Team

Dr. Tia C. Madkins is pictured smiling confidently at the camera, wearing a kelly green dress, a thick gold chain necklace, and a gold bracelet on her right wrist. She is making the sign of the horns gesture with her right hand

Dr. Tia C. Madkins

(US PI, Team Co-PI, Assistant Professor, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, The University of Texas at Austin) has expertise in mixed methods research design and implementation, K-5 science education, culturally responsive and relevant education, and teacher education. She brings expertise from her current, collaborative NSF-funded project using a mixed methods design to theorize Blackness in STEM and examine racial equity for Black STEM undergraduates. 

A headshot of Kevin Lanza wearing a small blue and white check button up while smiling at the camera

Dr. Kevin Lanza

(Co-PI, Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, UTHealth School of Public Health) explores the relations between health, the environment, and physical activity through a social equity lens to determine the impact of ambient environmental hazards and access to health-supportive infrastructure, on marginalized children’s physical activity and health. He also co-designs and evaluates environmental and programmatic interventions to promote children’s health and wellbeing in the face of climate change within all aspects of an NIH-funded collaborative HIV/AIDS training program in Eswatini.  

Headshot of Dr Steven Zuiker smiling at the camera in front of a white back drop

Dr. Steven Zuiker

(Co-PI, Associate Professor, Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, Arizona State University) has expertise in design-based research and garden-based science education. His research focuses on co-designing garden projects with schools in Latine and immigrant communities in the US Southwest and developing infrastructure to support garden-based education for a network of 1,000 farmers, educators, and food systems workers in Arizona. 

Tyra Timm is pictured smiling at the camera with curly hair and a silky black button up in front of a grey backdrop

Tyra Timm

Tyra Timm is a doctoral student in the Education Policy and Planning program at the University of Texas at Austin.