Our Fellows

Dr. Blakey has been working as an Assistant Professor of Global Change Biology at Cal Poly Pomona since 2023. She is an ecologist who is intrigued by how dynamic disturbances (like fire and human disturbance) impact animal behavior and community assembly. Her work is often inspired by conservation problems faced by her natural resource management collaborators, including the National Park Service and Forest Service in both Australia and California. Rachel is also committed to working towards equity and inclusion in science, via her involvement in community science as well as experiential learning and representation for underserved students and scholars. To this end, she co-developed a campus program to increase representation of scholars of color, Diverse Stories in STEM, and also co-leads an LA-wide community science program, LA Bat Roost Count, with the Natural History Museum of LA County. Her newest program, Fall Bat Week, empowers Cal Poly Pomona undergraduate students with knowledge of local bats and equips them with the skills to build bat habitat and run a community outreach event to share their knowledge and make a conservation impact. In partnership with CEMaST, Rachel hopes to extend this work to build capacity and linkages with the K-12 community.

Dr. Eshwar Ravishankar, an Assistant Professor in Plant Science at Cal Poly Pomona, has been selected as a faculty fellow at the Center for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (CEMaST). Dr. Ravishankar's work focuses on integrating innovative technologies into STEM education to foster inclusive and research-based learning environments associated with controlled environment agriculture. He has contributed to the NIFA USDA program by developing a model for positive youth development, teaching students how to construct a model-scale greenhouse powered by solar energy. Additionally, he has utilized computer programming and machine learning tools to teach plant science students how to detect plant diseases. Dr. Ravishankar is also involved in writing grants in National Science Foundation (NSF) to enhance education in plant science through virtual reality tools and digital twin modeling, aiming to create immersive learning experiences in greenhouse and vertical farm operations. His efforts align with CEMaST’s mission to promote equitable and inclusive STEM education across K-16 levels.

Dr. Eliud (Eddie) Partida is an influential educator in STEM education, serving as an Assistant Professor in the College of Education and Integrative Studies at Cal Poly Pomona. He is dedicated to creating inclusive, culturally responsive learning environments that empower students. Dr. Partida's courses, known for their dynamic and student-centered approach, have earned recognition for promoting equity and engagement in the classroom. His research focuses on enhancing scientific literacy and equity in education. He currently serves as P.I and Co-P.I. on two grants, including a $75,000 initiative to advance scientific literacy in elementary classrooms and a $300,000 project developing a competency-based data system to track equity outcomes in teacher preparation. These projects have a significant impact on both academic scholarship and educational practice. Beyond teaching and research, Dr. Partida is a committed advocate for social justice. He actively contributes to university and community service, serving on committees and participating in panels that address the intersection of education, technology, and social justice. His work exemplifies a holistic approach to education, combining academic rigor with a passion for meaningful, lasting change, particularly within STEM fields.

Thomas (Tom) Chrien started teaching as an Adjunct Professor in the Physics department in 2024, after retiring from a 40-year career working in the Aerospace Industry. He earned a BS and MS degree in Optical Engineering from the University of Rochester, and holds an MBA from Pepperdine University, and a Master of Policy Analysis from the RAND Graduate School of Policy Studies. During his time in industry, Tom specialized in advanced electro-optical sensors for Earth observation from space and for space situational awareness. He worked at NASA JPL for the first 16 years of his career, where he was a Principal Member of the Engineering Staff, and then 6 years at Raytheon as an Engineering Fellow,10 years at Aerospace Corporation as a Senior Project Leader, and 7 years at Millennium Space Systems, as a Boeing Technical Fellow. He has been the technical director for several advanced optical payloads for space applications.

Tom has enjoyed teaching throughout his career, and has taught a Pasadena City College, Harvey Mudd College, UCLA extension, and led seminars at technical conferences. He was certified to teach systems engineering at Raytheon and taught classes in applied optics and remote sensing at Aerospace. Tom teaches Applied Optics at Cal Poly Pomona, with an emphasis on modeling/simulation using PYTHON combined with laboratory measurement. He is also interested in developing low-cost optics experiments that can be used by STEM teachers in K-12.

Dr. Marisol Diaz is an Assistant Professor in Early Childhood Studies at California Polytechnic University Pomona. Her research intersects critical race theory and Marxist class analysis, examining how socioeconomic status and race impact the educational journeys of Hispanic/Chican@/Mexican elementary students. As a former elementary teacher, Dr. Diaz emphasizes an interdisciplinary approach in her research and teaching, integrating STEAM and literacy as interconnected fields that can develop critical thinking, linguistic affirmation, and anti-racist practices. She views these areas as deeply intertwined, making it essential to study them together to fully understand their collective impact on young learners' educational experiences and future trajectories. Dr. Diaz is particularly concerned with environments that prioritize rote memorization and shortcuts in math problem-solving over meaningful experiences that connect content conceptually with learners' ways of knowing.

Recently, Dr. Diaz, in collaboration with Dr. Mariana Alvidrez from New Mexico State University, presented their research at the First National Meeting on Racial Justice in Early Mathematics. Their findings underscore the long-term impact that critical consciousness and conceptual teaching in math and science in their early elementary years had on them, even a decade later. Remarkably, students from this research study have all pursued STEM fields. Now in their second year of university, they are excelling in advanced math and science classes.

Dr. Yu Sun is currently a Professor of Computer Science at Cal Poly Pomona. Dr. Sun has extensive development, research, and entrepreneurial experience in the areas of AI, mobile computing, and cloud computing. He currently serves as director of SoftCom Lab in the Computer Science Department. Dr. Sun has been leading the Supplementary Authorization Training in Computer Science. He is also the founder of the K-12 coding education startup Coding Mind that focuses on introducing K-12 students to the challenge and promise of computer science and technologies.

Dr. Jellyman is an Associate Professor in the Biological Sciences Department at Cal Poly Pomona. She teaches human physiology, physiology of human reproduction, and a graduate seminar on developmental origins of adult health and disease. She loves teaching physiology in the classroom by using household items to illustrate complex concepts, and outside the classroom by involving students in research. Dr. Jellyman currently serves as the Western Regional Director for the Human Anatomy and Physiology Society (HAPS). As a leader within HAPS, she promotes inclusive teaching of anatomy and physiology through provision of professional development workshops for instructors, and development of high-quality teaching resources that support best practices in teaching of anatomy and physiology. Dr. Jellyman recently collaborated with CAFÉ to create a multimedia learning object to help students learn the different phases of the cardiac cycle. As a CEMaST fellow, Dr. Jellyman plans to share this learning resource with physiology instructors from other institutions and to test its effectiveness at helping students to meet associated learning objectives. She also hopes to collaborate with Professor Phyllis Nelson in the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering on a grant to implement and assess modules that aim to teaching physiology effectively by using fundamental concepts from and the language of engineering control systems.

I am very excited to be a Fellow for CEMaST this year. I am currently pursuing my Doctorate in Education with an emphasis in Science Education through Indiana University. My research interest revolves around how we train science educators, in order to improve student success. My current focus is how we train graduate students to teach. This is important because many graduate students will be teaching assistants during their graduate program, and some will move on to teach in higher education. I want to understand how providing a structured program in pedagogy will impact how they teach in the future.