Our leadership advisors bring their personal experiences along with a wealth of professional experiences, training and knowledge of Open Education to guide the Regional Leaders of Open Education Network in it’s mission to support underserved student populations.
A long-time Professor of Biology and fierce advocate for students, Karen eventually gained wide recognition for bringing open pedagogical practices into her STEM courses. She is a leader in open education, open science, STEM education, faculty development, and critical digital pedagogy.
Dr. Deidre Tyler – Professor of Sociology/ Instructional Technologist. Involved in OER since 2017 and a frequent speaker at conferences. Deidre has been teaching online since 1995 and she received her Masters in Instructional Technology from Utah State University. She was a beta tester for the Open Sociology Textbook that Rice University started in 2017. As a result of that opportunity, she did webinars showing teachers how to use the opentext book in the digital space. She is certified by the American Council on Education (ACUE 2021).
Rebecca Vasquez Ortiz, Ph.D., is a mother, educator, and community activist with a passion for Dual Enrollment and Open Education. Through the use of a framework of cultural responsiveness, she is currently teaching various courses as an Associate Professor of Psychology. Her teaching load includes psychology courses and statistics in both traditional and online formats. As an indigenous woman in higher education, she looks forward to developing partnerships with educators across Turtle Island, with the aim of empowering students through inclusivity.
Carlos C. Goller – Associate Teaching Professor. Involved in biotechnology and molecular biology course design and development with a focus on empowering students to co-create and share openly.
Esperanza Zenon – Associate Professor of Physical Science. Esperanza is passionate about STEM Equity and serves in several organizations focused on girls in STEM. She utilizes OER in all of her courses as a way of making sure that all of her students have the course materials on day one of class. Esperanza is particularly interested in the intersection of STEM and CTE.
Kim Grewe, Ph.D., is an educator, scholar, online learning enthusiast, community college leader, and champion of Open Education. With teaching experience from middle school to community college, she brings a myriad of skills and career’s worth of perspective to her online course design, program development, and work with faculty in professional development workshops. It is her honor to be working with other outstanding educators who share a passion for empowering their students and themselves through Open Education.