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From 2012hs.igem.org

Rebekah Ravgiala (Team Leader)

Rebekah Ravgiala attended Saint Anselm College in NH where in 1994 she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology, a certificate of Special Studies in Spanish, and her Initial 7-12 Teacher Certification. While working as a full-time Biology teacher, Rebekah continued her education at Notre Dame College in NH where she received her Master of Education degree in Curriculum and Instruction. After completing the requirements for her degree in 1995, she matriculated into the Mathematics and Science Education doctoral program at the University of Massachusetts Lowell and was awarded her Doctor of Education degree in June 2003. Rebekah has been teaching Biology for 15 years, and has had the opportunity during those years to teach Physical Science, Chemistry, Human Anatomy and Physiology, and Advanced Placement Biology. She currently teaches Biology and AP Biology at Tyngsborough High School in Tyngsborough, MA where she has spent the last 5 years of her teaching career. While completing her dissertation which focused on subject-specific pedagogical content knowledge of traditionally and alternatively certified Biology teachers, she also enjoyed work as an adjunct faculty member at Daniel Webster College in NH teaching Environmental Science to adult learners. Rebekah has spent 5 consecutive summers as a participant in the Research Experience for Teachers program at the Harvard University in Cambridge, MA. Rebekah was awarded Teacher of the Month at her high school (September 2001) and was nominated by a former student into Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers (2002), and was recently a co-presenter at the Massachusetts Association of Biology Teachers Annual Conference where she discussed "iGEMming" and the BioBuilder Curriculum developed by Natalie Kuldell (MIT) and Jim Dixon (Sharon High School). She is excited to bring synthetic biology to Tyngsborough High School and is currently developing the curriculum for a single trimester course designed to introduce the tools of molecular biology and the concepts of engineering and design. Rebekah is most proud of the EFT Grant she was awarded this month that will allow for the construction of a rudimentary molecular biology lab space to be used by current iGEMmers and iGEMmers in training! When not iGEMming, Rebekah enjoys spending time with her family, especially working on Blackbelt requirements in Tae Kwon Do with her 6-year-old daughter.