The awesome folks in CERL
Group Leaders
Danny Caballero (he/him)
Danny is an associate professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy and the Department of Computational Mathematics, Science and Engineering. He holds the Lappan-Phillips Chair of Physics Education, co-directs the Physics Education Research Lab, and is the principal investigator of the Learning Machines Lab. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in physics from the University of Texas at Austin, and his Master’s and PhD in physics from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Danny worked as a Science Teaching Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Colorado Boulder before joining the faculty at Michigan State. His research focuses on computational education and the use of data science to address questions in STEM education. In his free time, he bikes, skateboards, and barbecues. His website can be found here.
Brian O’Shea (he/him)
Brian is a professor in the Department of Computational Mathematics, Science and Engineering and the Department of Physics and Astronomy. He is also a member of the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory and the current Director of MSU’s Institute for Cyber-Enabled Research. Prior to joining MSU, he received his PhD in physics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and was a postdoc at Los Alamos National Laboratory in the Theoretical Astrophysics Group and Applied Physics Division. His research interests include galaxy formation, turbulence, plasma physics, and computational science education. In his free time, he enjoys cooking, gardening, biking, and hiking. His website can be found here.
Devin Silvia (he/him)
Devin is the Director of Undergraduate Studies and a teaching specialist in the Department of Computational Mathematics, Science and Engineering. He received his PhD in Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences from the University of Colorado where he worked as a computational astrophysicist running simulations aimed at understanding various facets of chemical evolution in the universe. He then worked as a National Science Foundation Astronomy and Astrophysics postdoctoral fellow at MSU before joining the ranks of the CMSE faculty in 2017. In addition to his computational astrophysics research, Devin is passionate about STEM education and creating more equitable and inclusive STEM classrooms. When he’s not working, he enjoys brewing beer, roasting coffee, and running all over the greater Lansing area.
Group Members
Tom Finzell (he/him)
Tom is a assistant professor in CMSE working in CERL. His research focuses on how students learn the computational data manipulation tools ubiquitous across all STEM disciplines, emphasizing equitably and inclusively. Tom has also worked on integrating computation into the core curriculum of physics, and more broadly, in STEM and beyond. He believes that a lack of preparation in computation can propagate historical and structural barriers that stand in the way of success for disenfranchised groups. Tom’s Ph.D. work was in astronomy, focused on modeling multi-wavelength observations of gamma-ray-emitting Classical Novae, specifically focusing on the V1324 Sco. Tom used radio observations to probe the extensive properties of nova ejecta, optical data as a diagnostic of the plasma, and gamma-ray data to constrain the dynamics of the event.
Rachel Frisbie (she/her)
Rachel is an assistant professor in the Computational Education Research Lab (CERL). She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Physics from The University of Scranton, and she earned her PhD in Astrophysics from Michigan State University in 2020. Since 2020, she has been teaching courses in CMSE and engaging in computational science education research with the Computational Education Research Lab (CERL) at MSU. Her current research interests include qualitative approaches to exploring how students problem solve using computational concepts as they progress through their education as well as how those findings can be applied to courses like the ones we teach in CMSE to improve student outcomes. She also is interested in investigating the impact of weekly group and individual feedback on students’ experiences in class. Elsewhere on campus, Rachel is a STEM Teaching and Learning Fellow and helps run Astronomy on Tap - Lansing. Outside of work, Rachel enjoys exploring with her spouse, toddler, and dog, playing oboe and ukulele, powerlifting, and tin smithing.
Patti Hamerski (she/her)
Patti is an assistant professor in CMSE. Her research is based out of CERL and she teaches CMSE 201 and STT 180. She finished her PhD in 2021 doing physics education research at MSU, studying how high school students perceive and deal with affect-based challenges when learning physics through computation. She is interested broadly in the intersection of computing, disciplinary learning, and affect. Her current research focuses on CMSE 201 (an introductory interdisciplinary computing course), and involves students’ perspectives on self-efficacy for interdisciplinary computing, the impact of personalized written feedback on students, and curriculum design for three-dimensional learning and sustainability. Outside of work, Patti loves to play with her German shorthaired pointer, explore Michigan’s parks and breweries, and make linocuts.
Emily Bolger (she/her)
Emily is a PhD student in the Computational Mathematics, Science and Engineering (CMSE) Department. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from Moravian College. Her current research uses computational tools, specifically Social Network Analysis and Natural Language Processing, to analyze education-related data. Her most recent project involves analyzing social networks constructed from Slack messages of Physics instructors who are looking to better integrate computation in their classrooms. In addition to research, she has been a Teaching Assistant for CMSE 201 and CMSE 381. In her free time, she enjoys reading, crocheting, and dancing.
Sarah Castle (she/her)
Sarah earned her masters in Mathematics and PhD in Mathematics Education from Michigan State University in 2023. She earned her bachelor’s degrees in Mathematics and Engineering Physics from Whitworth University. During this time her research projects were at the intersection of mathematics, engineering, and computation, including modeling biological fluid shifts in microgravity and evaluating electric propulsion systems for asteroid and comet sample-return missions. Sarah continued this research at Princeton in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering program before turning to mathematics education research. Her passion is exploring how computation enacted through coding in undergraduate mathematics classrooms can bring about deeper understandings of mathematical structures and develop mathematical creativity. Her most recent project focuses on introducing CMSE 201 students to linear algebra through a series of modules in Jupyter Notebooks and the relation with mathematical creativity. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, swimming, playing with her cats, and crafting.
Rachel Roca (she/they)
Rachel is a PhD student in CMSE. She earned her bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Manhattan College in 2021, where she also minored in computer science and Spanish. Her research interests are interdisciplinary and span three areas: topological data analysis (the study of the shape of data), computational education, and humanistic mathematics for social good. Currently, she is exploring various research paths that combine these larger areas in unique ways. Rachel has TAed for CMSE 201 and CMSE 381, and has designed assignments for both. Outside of research, Rachel is the co- chair of the CMSE department’s graduate student diversity, equity, and inclusion committee and the co-president of the MSU swing dance society. In her free time, Rachel loves to read, go to the beach, travel, and have good food and drink with good people.
Amanda Bowerman (she/her)
Amanda is currently a master’s student in CMSE. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Data Science with a minor in Cognitive Sciences in 2022. Throughout her time at MSU, Amanda has worked as an undergraduate learning assistant and a teaching assistant for many of our CMSE courses. Currently, she is involved in curriculum development efforts for our introductory courses. Outside of work, Amanda likes to play guitar, read, play with her cats, and spend time with friends.
Cassie Lem (she/her)
Cassie is a PhD student in CMSE. She earned her bachelor’s degree in applied mathematics from UC Santa Barbara in 2021. Cassie is currently interested in studying how different group work dynamics in CMSE 201 affect student self-efficacy. Cassie is also a graduate assistant on the technical team of Humanities Commons. Additionally, she has been a TA for CMSE 201 and CMSE 382. In her free time, Cassie enjoys reading, swing dancing, playing board/card games, and spending time with friends and family.
Krithi Sachithanand (she/her)
Krithi is an undergraduate student studying Computational Data Science at Michigan State University. Her research interests include studying user experience through classroom application. Outside of work, she likes trying different flavors of ice-cream, karaoke and crafting.
Paige Tourangeau (she/her)
Paige is an undergraduate student studying statistics at Michigan State University. Her research interests surround studying various aspects of student experience and perception of their success in the classroom. In her free time, she enjoys doing yoga, trying new foods, and watching reality TV.
Jacob Underwood (he/him)
Jacob is an undergraduate student studying computer science from Arizona State University. His research interests include computer programming education and natural language processing. In his free time, he likes reading science fiction, exploring nature, and learning a new language. Jacob is joining CERL for the 2023 ACRES REU Program!
Sona Chitchyan (she/they)
Sona is a PhD student at CMSE working in CERL, focusing on studying the process of teaching computation in the context of astrophysics. In their free time they enjoy playing racquetball and watching TV shows. Sona is also interested in contributing to open source codes in astrophysics.
External Collaborators
Tor Ole Odden (he/him)
Tor is a postdoc at the University of Oslo, Norway, where he studies how computation can be used to improve physics teaching and how machine learning methods can be applied to science education research. He holds a bachelor’s degree in physics from St. Olaf College, a master’s in physics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a PhD in physics education also from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In his spare time Tor is an active fiddle player, cross-country skier, wood-carver, and graphic novel enthusiast.
Former group members
Nat Hawkins (he/him)
Nat is a former post-bac researcher with CERL. He completed a Masters in CMSE and is now working as a Business Intelligence Analyst for the Kellogg Company.