Coalition Staff

Dr. Gerry G. Meisels is the founding director of the Coalition for Science Literacy at the University of South Florida. Until 1994, he served as USF's Provost and Chief Operating Officer. From 1982 to 1988 he was dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, and chair of the Department of Chemistry from 1975 to 1982. He was on the faculty of the University of Houston from 1965 to 1975, the last three years as department chair. Meisels began his professional career as a chemist and group leader in industry, working for Gulf Oil Corporation and Union Carbide Corporation. Dr. Meisels is author of over 100 papers in major science journals, and has served as president of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry (ASMS) and chairman of the Council of Scientific Society Presidents.

Since 1994 Meisels has led projects to improve science and mathematics education, and advocated for systemic, large-scale change. He has secured over $13,500,000 in grants from NSF, US DOE, and the Florida DOE. He co-led a statewide professional development program for elementary school teachers. Projects also include marketing science and mathematics teaching to professionals, induction for career change teachers, and research on teacher resignations that revealed that personal factors such as family concerns were more important in teachers’ decisions to leave the profession than previously believed. He led the formation of the statewide Coalition for Improving Mathematics and Science Education and has served as chair from 1999 to 2009. He organized two statewide Summits on Mathematics and Science Education in 2005. These helped lead the way to 2006 legislation that established and funded the Florida Center for Mathematics and Science Education Research.

Dr. Meisels' CV

Dr. Robert Potter is a Professor of Chemistry and has been the Associate Director of the Coalition for Science Literacy (CSL) at the University of South Florida (USF) since 2000.  He served as interim chair of the Chemistry Department 1998-99. He currently chairs the USF General Education Council as it oversees the implementation of a new general education program focused on critical thinking and inquiry that he helped develop. Potter received his Ph.D from the University of California at San Diego in biochemistry in 1979 and did postdoctoral work at the University of Wyoming where he served as non-tenure track assistant professor for two years before coming to USF in 1984.

Working with CSL since 1995, Potter has been increasingly involved in projects to improve science and mathematics education, and has advocated for systemic, large-scale change at universities and in the K-12 sector. While at CSL he has helped secure over $10 million in grants from NSF, US DOE, and the Florida DOE. Projects include leading the development of curriculum and materials for “Science That Matters” I & II, a national science standards-based interdisciplinary science course sequence for pre-service elementary and middle school teachers. Other projects have included marketing mathematics and science teaching to professionals, teacher induction, and research on teacher resignations. Currently he is the PI for the IES-funded project, Leadership for Integrated Middle School Science. Potter has been directly involved in both the planning and execution of these projects, especially faculty-led professional development. Potter was a member of a statewide Coalition for Improving Mathematics and Science Education and served on its board of directors.

Dr. Potter's CV

Ms. Sandi Schlichting coordinates the activities of grants awarded to the Coalition and serves as liasion to grant partners. Past projects include two research projects about teacher turnover and teacher retention (UR SMART and UR SMART II), two projects that supported alternate entrant teachers in science and mathematics (MASTRACI and MASTERS), and an external evaluation of Florida's ten MSP Science Partnership grants. Currently, Ms. Schlichting coordinates activities of a program to support alternate entrants teaching middle school science (MOSTI) and a program to develop a teacher leadership cadre for middle school integrated science in Hillsborough County Public Schools (LIMSS).

Ms. Schlichting's CV

Dr. Anna Lewis has a BS in physics, an MS in Instructional Technology and a Ph.D in Curriculum and Instruction in Secondary Science with an emphasis in Diversity Issues. She was the Space Physics Analysis Network Manager at Marshal Space Flight Center, in Huntsville AL, a Senior Programmer at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in Boston MA, and High School physics and general science teacher in Venice FL.

In addition to these endeavors she owned her own business for 18 years as an adaptive technology specialist. At present, Dr. Lewis works as a project manager and senior researcher for the Coalition. She writes grants, conducts workshops, develops curriculum, and manages the data collection and analysis for CSL’s projects. Currently she is conducting on-site observations and evaluations for Florida PROMISE, developing curriculum for Middle and High School STEM insertion modules, researching effective pre-service teaching models, and writing professional development curriculum to assist teachers in conducting inquiry learning.

Dr. Lewis's CV

Dr. JoEllen Carlson, Associate Professor, has more than 40 years’ experience in managerial, leadership, educational, evaluation, and consulting roles. Before joining the CSL, she directed the Institute for Instructional Research and Practice and the Institute for At-Risk Infants, Children, Youth, and Their Families at USF – two centers that successfully managed more than $120 million in federal, state, local, and private research and development grants and contracts. Dr. Carlson has held management positions with the New York Stock Exchange, Educational Testing Service (ETS), CTB/McGraw-Hill, and ACT (formerly the American College Testing Program). She also served as Director of the External Degree Programs and was a graduate faculty member at Troy State University in Montgomery, Alabama. Prior to that she was a secondary-school teacher.

Dr. Carlson has led the development and implementation of programs for a number of organizations and agencies and has served as a consultant to business, professional, and regulatory bodies, as well as state departments of education, school districts, and universities. Her work includes serving more than 25 organizations and agencies to develop, implement, and evaluate licensure, certification, registration, and other personnel credentialing programs and assessments. In addition, she has served for more than six years as an invited charter member of the Personnel Certification Accreditation Committee of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), the official U.S. representative to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Accreditation Forum (IAF).

Dr. Carlson holds a B.A., an M.A., and a Ph.D. in Education, with an emphasis on Educational Measurement and Research, Curriculum, and Instruction, all from the University of South Florida. She has earned and maintains the Grant Professional Certification awarded by the certification body of the American Association of Grant Professionals.

Dr. Carlson's CV

Ms. Alison Goins maintains departmental and grant budgets and acts as liaison with other areas as needed for the functioning of the Coalition.