Robert W. Blake, Jr, is a Professor in Elementary Education and a former department chair. With a Ph.D. in Curriculum Design from the University Illinois at Chicago, a MAT in Biology from Brown University, and a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the State University of New York at Albany, Dr Blake has had 35 plus year career in science teaching as well as pre-service and in-service teacher preparation. Notable publications include a analysis of Sizer’s (1984) Horace’s Compromise, in DeVitis, Joseph L. (Ed.) (2016). Popular educational classics: A reader; Becoming a teacher: Using Narrative as reflective practice. A cross-disciplinary approach, edited by Blake, R.W., Jr. and Blake, B. E. (2012); and Inside-Out: Environmental Science in the Classroom and the Field, Grades 3-8, by Blake, R.W., Jr.; Frederick, J.A., Haines, S, and Lee, S. (2010).
Lisa R. Trattner has a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership from Notre Dame of Maryland University, a MAT In Early Childhood Education from Towson University and a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from the University of Maryland at College Park. Dr Trattner’s educational career has spanned over three decades including working as an elementary school teacher, math resource teacher and a science department chair before moving into the collegiate level. As a professor over the past 17 years, she has taught courses in curriculum design, action research, diversity, equity and inclusion, literacy and science education. She has spent much of her career at the college level working directly with pre-service teachers in the field and mentoring new teachers as they transition into their teaching careers. Publications include The Complexities of a Nineteenth Century Icon: Emma Hart Willard, 2021 and "Making Science Come Alive," 2015.