Faculty/Staff

Adams is the Get the Facts Out PI. In this role she manages the project and directs all research and development activities. She is also the Director of Teach@Mines at the Colorado School of Mines, an APS Fellow, and co-recipient of the 2018 American Physical Society Excellence in Physics Education Award. A Physics Education Researcher by training, she earned her PhD. from the University of Colorado, Boulder in 2007 under the guidance of Dr. Carl Wieman. Adams’ research focuses on formative assessment, curriculum design, and perceptions of the teaching profession. She is the author of the CLASS, which measures students’ perceptions of physics and how to learn physics; has done extensive work on problem solving evaluation; developed the interface design guidelines for the PhET Interactive Simulations; designed and developed several curricula including the Explore Sound project – K-14 materials for acoustics; and has most recently developed the suite of Get the Facts Out resources including the PTaP and PTaP.HE instruments (Perceptions of Teaching as a Profession) for students and for faculty in Higher Education, respectively.

Allie is Project Support Personnel for the Teach@Mines program and Get the Facts Out, he National Science Foundation project. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Dietetics from the University of Northern Colorado in 2014 and joined Mines after a slight career change in 2018. Allie spends her work time planning GFO/T@M meetings and events, supporting the GFO Champions and staff, supporting the Teach@Mines students, program graduates, staff, and much more. She spends her free time attending concerts, fishing or snowboarding in the mountains, and soaking up family time with her husband and little stud muffin, Ryder.

Hi, my name is Jared Breakall and I love teaching with the Teach@Mines program! My background is in chemistry education and I am fascinated by the science of teaching and learning. I grew up in Strasburg, Colorado, and received my bachelor’s degree in chemistry education from Brigham Young University-Idaho. There I gained a love for chemistry and for teaching others. Following that, I taught middle school science in Rigby, Idaho before going to graduate school at Purdue University in Indiana. While earning my Ph.D. in Chemistry Education Research at Purdue, I developed expertise in assessment design and educational research methodology. That led me to move to Golden Colorado to join the Get the Facts Out research project as a research associate where I worked on improving STEM teacher recruitment efforts in the United States. I have helped to design the dynamic teaching course here at Mines which I love to teach! In addition to teaching for T@M, I am a chemistry professor at Snow College in Utah, I love spending time with my wife and three kids, shooting landscape photography, playing chess, telling cheesy dad jokes, and cooking.

My name is Stephan Graham, a material-science engineer turned chemistry and physics teacher.  After receiving my B.S. and M.S. in material-science engineering at Rutgers and Penn State University, respectively, I worked at Corning, Incorporated for nearly five years as a process engineer in the photochromic glass and ceramic catalytic converter industries.  

More jazzed about local high-school visits I made to talk to students about material science, I knew where my heart and motivation were.  Over twenty years and counting, and I am still a chemistry and physics teacher in urban America.  As a Latino, my passion for working in urban America derives from the recognition that other Latinos and non-whites make up a growing segment of the US population, yet they are the least likely to graduate from college, and even less likely to enter fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.  

Outside of the classroom you might find me teaching snowboarding at Vail Mountain, flying down single-track trails on my mountain bike,  playing (read: destroying) pickleball with Dr. Callan or walking the Camino de Santiago in Spain!

While undergoing my graduate studies, I found that teaching was the favorite of my duties.  Thus, I completed my dissertation in experimental condensed matter physics, then got a job as a high school teacher.  Now, I am trying my hand in physics education research to see how well I do in it.  

Besides finding me on campus, you can find me dabbling in philately and history; being a spectator at sporting events; travelling, or preferably, all of the above.

Christine Liebe has a joint appointment with the Computer Science department and the Honors College (Teach@Mines). She teaches introductory programming, CS pre-service teacher courses, and supervises graduate students conducting CS Education research as well as CS student teachers. She is involved in several interdisciplinary research projects combining education and STEM topics (e.g., additive manufacturing, semiconductor engineering, AI education tools). Her research interests include, the instruction of abstraction, computational thinking, CS assessments, CS interdisciplinary connections, and the correlation between learning human and computer languages. Christine manages the Discover Explore Create with Technology (DECtech) outreach program which serves ~500  K-12 students through after-school and summer camps. She enjoys hiking with her dog and gardening in her free time. Read more here.

Hello – I’m Chuck Powell.  I recently retired from teaching high school, where I was a science, computer science, and STEM teacher for many years.  I have taught subjects and levels ranging from introductory Physical Science to AP Physics and AP Computer Science.  My bachelors’ degree is in physics, but I’ve learned computer science along the way.

I was one of only 40 teachers selected to pilot the new AP Computer Science Principles course in 2013.  In addition to decades of teaching high school students, I also spent eight summers working for the College Board to teach other teachers how to teach computer science.  I also served for three years as the President of the Colorado Chapter of CSTA – the Computer Science Teachers’ Association.  In 2016, I was chosen by the Colorado Technology Association as the Colorado Technology Educator of the year.

My wife and I enjoy hiking and traveling.  My two daughters are grown and both work in the field of education.  I also enjoy staying busy with my two grandsons, four years old and one year old.

My name is Sabina Schill. I initially thought I was going to grow up and be a paleontologist, but after an intriguing lab in my high school physics class involving a rather long spring, the top of the football field bleachers, and a Buzz Lightyear action figure, I decided to get a B.S. in Physics (shoutout to Mr. Roth!). After that, I received my Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering, but I happily got to form my own path in grad school and did my research in STEM Education.  

My classroom teaching experience has mainly been at the college level, but I was fortunate enough to meet many high school teachers while working on my Postdoc with Engineering for US All (e4usa), a program which provides an engineering curriculum and professional development for teachers. Fast forward to my current position with Teach@Mines and Get the Facts Out, where I can continue research in STEM Education while also supporting future teachers!  

When not on campus, you will likely see me spending time outdoors, creating collages, visiting family in Delaware, or cooking/baking.