Meet the Team

Kathy Chen joined The STEM Education Center at WPI after 15+ years as a professor in Materials Engineering at California Polytechnic (Cal Poly) State University, San Luis Obispo where she served as Department Chair and lead many K-12 and community STEM outreach activities. In her current role to support PreK-12 STEM educators and to transform STEM education, she works to broaden the participation of students in STEM (especially those from underrepresented and excluded groups) by advancing equity in education through holistic and innovative approaches. She also currently leads the Central MA ...

Terry joined WPI's Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations in 1997, spending twelve years as a development officer focused on building relationships for WPI's offices of K-12 Outreach, Women's Programs, and Diversity Programs. She served as the WPI Program Manager for Project Lead The Way from 2009 to 2017. Terry then accepted the position of Operations Manager for the STEM Education Center at WPI. Prior to joining WPI, Terry spent five years at GE, in their Manufacturing Management Leadership Program and several manufacturing, engineering, and quality control positions. She received her ...

Jamie Burden is excited to join the WPI STEM Education Center as of Winter 2023. She brings 15+ years of experience working as a licensed high school educator in an urban setting. In addition to teaching, she has worked as a teacher leader completing evaluations in the Worcester Public Schools by leading a department of 10+ educators. Jamie brings experience working with Educational Leadership as she continues to work towards her High School Administrator license. She has trained dozens of student teachers as a Mentor Teacher, Teacher Leader, and Focused Instructional Coach. Currently, Jamie ...

Jillian DiBonaventura joined the STEM Education Center at WPI as the Director of Teacher Preparation in 2022. Her extensive and varied background within the field of education include rich experiences as a classroom educator for middle-level Science and before coming to WPI, she served as the Coordinator of Teacher Education for Smith College.Jillian began her career teaching Music (K-12) for the Worcester Public Schools (WPS) before transitioning into Science education, which she taught for 10 years between the Worcester and Wachusett Regional ...

Mia Dubosarsky is the Director of Professional Development. In this role, she oversees the development and facilitation of STEM-focused professional development workshops for PK-12 teachers and administrators across the country and internationally. Mia has been a science and STEM educator for more than 25 years. Early in her career, she founded and managed a science education enrichment enterprise for young children, called Discoveries, which engaged children in exploring science phenomena through stories, games, and experiments. Mia also led the collaborative development of Seeds ...

Noemi Robertson joined the STEM Education Center as the Director of Community Partnerships & Educational Equity in October 2022. Noemi is responsible for building and managing relationships in the local community to support teaching experiences for the WPI Teacher Preparation Program and for equitable PreK-12 STEM learning opportunities. She promotes and supports PreK-16 teachers in developing equitable and inclusive STEM curriculum and instructional practices. Additionally, she supports the Mass Academy of Math & Sciences in sustaining existing partnerships and building new ...

Prior to joining the STEM Education Center full time in 2018, Donna was a classroom teacher with 15 years of teaching experience. She holds National Board Certification in Early Adolescence Science and is a NASA Network of Educator Astronaut Teacher.  She has won several awards for teaching and curriculum development including the Blackstone Valley Educational Consortium Promising Practices in Education Award.  She was named Florida Wildlife Federation Conservation Educator of the Year, the Florida Association of Science Teachers Most Outstanding Science Teacher and the Palm Beach County ...