The Crew: Mark McGinley

I just finished my 20th year as a professor in the Honors College and Department of Biological Sciences at Texas Tech University.  My training is in ecology, but recently my interests have focused on science education and environmental education.  I work as an author and editor at the Encyclopedia of Earth and I have written a number of articles about the common reef fish in the Caribbean.

I have taught Tropical Marine Biology in Jamaica, Belize, the British Islands, and the windward Islands of the Caribbean (this will by my fourth trip to TREC).  I am excited to be leading a group of students from the MS Squared program on this research trip!

The Crew: Jose Olivencia

"Hi there! I'm Jose, and I am a 5th grade science teacher in Duncanville, TX.  I am proud to be a graduate student in the MS2 (Multidisciplinary Science for Middle School) program at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas.  I was born and raised in Puerto Rico, a small island in the Caribbean, and I enjoy visiting my family whenever time (and money) permits!  Most of my family lives there, about a 5 minute drive from the beach.  I love the beach and learned to bodyboard surf a few years back.  I still try to catch a wave or two when I visit.  I am blessed to be a part of the Belize research team this summer, lead by our cool professor Mark McGinley, and engage in real environmental research along with my Tech friends!  I hope to bring my experiences to class, adding relevance to instruction and allowing students to feel they are part of it.  I wish to bring the scientific method to life through our efforts and through the Malaysian bat research also sponsored by TTU.  Finally, in my friend George's words, I would like to "raise awareness of conservation" in my students."

The Crew: Catherine Wright

I am originally from Lafayette, Louisiana, and I graduated from the University of
Southwestern Louisiana. I am currently working on a Master’s of Science degree
from Texas Tech University. I teach 6th grade math at Webb Middle School in
Garland, TX. I am looking forward to exploring and researching the marine life in
Belize to share with my students in the future.

The Crew: Ryan Timmons

I am a 7th grade math teacher and high school swimming coach for Prosper ISD.  I have three children (two boys and one little girl ages 4, 2 and 2 months).  This opportunity is the realization of a lifelong dream.  As a student in my younger days I studied aquatics and marine life at the various pet stores and aquariums in Texas and Indiana.  I had previously maintained over 200 gallons of fish tanks in my classroom but had to part with most of them due to district policy change.  I am so very excited to experience this much larger fish tank.  I am an avid swimmer and swam in high school as well as college at Indiana University.  I know I’m going to be the first one in the water and they will probably going to have to drag me out at the end of the day.  Look out fishies here I come. 

The Crew: George Rodriguez

My name is George Rodriguez.  I teach 8th grade Pre AP science and science at Eisenhower Middle School in San Antonio, Texas, where I currently reside as the science department chair.  I'm originally from El Paso, Texas, where I graduated from Socorro High School.  After graduation, I moved to Austin where I attended the University of Texas at Austin.  I received my bachelors from UT in Biology. I’m currently seeking my Masters of Science at Texas Tech University. In my spare time, I like to read and doing anything outdoors.  I’m excited to travel to Ambergris Caye with Dr. Mark McGinley for this research project, so I can use this experience as a teaching tool to bring about awareness for conservation.  

The Crew: Keely Tippett

I am a 6-8 Science teacher at Childress Jr High.  I have taught science for 6 years and love middle school kids.  I am currently working on my masters at Texas Tech University and excited to conduct research. Living in a small town many  of my students have never see the ocean, this opportunity allows me chance to bring the ocean back to my students.

The Crew: Joshua Nielsen

I am a biology teacher at Rider H.S. in Wichita Falls ISD. I previously taught 7^th grade science/robotics/chaos theory for 11 years at Kirby World Academy, WFISD. I received a Bachelors of Science in Biology from Midwestern State University and currently working on my Masters of Science in Middle School Math and Science. We referred to it as (MS) ^2. I am a techie (computer nerd, amateur roboticist) but also enjoy the outdoors and LEGOs. I am excited about traveling to Belize with Dr. McGinley and my friends to do research. I look forward to incorporating the research into my curriculum.