Project Personnel
eMINTS Staff

Michelle Kendrick
Principal Investigator and Grant Manager
[email protected]
Michelle Kendrick, eMINTS program coordinator, draws on 29 years of experience in the field of education. She began her career as a high school science teacher where she was awarded the WGEM Television Golden Apple Award, University of Missouri Technology Innovative Teaching Award and Missouri Academy of Science Teacher of the Year. In 2000, she joined eMINTS and has designed and delivered PD for teachers and trainers across the U.S. and New South Wales, Australia. She has a Master’s in Educational Technology from the University of Missouri. Michelle currently coordinates eMINTS products and materials development and grant writing.
Principal Investigator and Grant Manager
[email protected]
Michelle Kendrick, eMINTS program coordinator, draws on 29 years of experience in the field of education. She began her career as a high school science teacher where she was awarded the WGEM Television Golden Apple Award, University of Missouri Technology Innovative Teaching Award and Missouri Academy of Science Teacher of the Year. In 2000, she joined eMINTS and has designed and delivered PD for teachers and trainers across the U.S. and New South Wales, Australia. She has a Master’s in Educational Technology from the University of Missouri. Michelle currently coordinates eMINTS products and materials development and grant writing.

Chris Bowling
Communications Coordinator
[email protected]
Chris Bowling began working at the University of Missouri in 2001, providing billing support in the Cashier’s Office. In 2003, he came to the College of Education, where he provided administrative support for the Mathematics Education division, and later the Department of Learning, Teaching, and Curriculum as a whole for 15 years. In April 2018, he joined eMINTS full time. As Communications Coordinator, his role encompasses a wide variety of tasks, from scheduling and communications to maintenance, proofing, and creation of the various online resources used by the eMINTS staff and affiliates. Outside of the office, he is extremely active in community theater, working as a performer, builder, director, and writer.
Communications Coordinator
[email protected]
Chris Bowling began working at the University of Missouri in 2001, providing billing support in the Cashier’s Office. In 2003, he came to the College of Education, where he provided administrative support for the Mathematics Education division, and later the Department of Learning, Teaching, and Curriculum as a whole for 15 years. In April 2018, he joined eMINTS full time. As Communications Coordinator, his role encompasses a wide variety of tasks, from scheduling and communications to maintenance, proofing, and creation of the various online resources used by the eMINTS staff and affiliates. Outside of the office, he is extremely active in community theater, working as a performer, builder, director, and writer.

Terri Brines
Affiliate Trainer Program-Southeast Kansas Cohorts
[email protected]
While teaching 3rd grade, Terri earned her certification as an eMINTS Teacher. She made the move to the eMINTS National Center in 2006 and helps educators develop skills and strategies to improve their teaching and student learning by providing professional development based on the eMINTS Instructional Model. While at eMINTS, Terri has become a Cognitive Coaching Agency Trainer, Certified Symbaloo Educator, Google Certified Educator, Intel Master Trainer, and has developed and worked on a variety of other projects. She currently works with teachers in Missouri and undergraduates at the University of Missouri.
Affiliate Trainer Program-Southeast Kansas Cohorts
[email protected]
While teaching 3rd grade, Terri earned her certification as an eMINTS Teacher. She made the move to the eMINTS National Center in 2006 and helps educators develop skills and strategies to improve their teaching and student learning by providing professional development based on the eMINTS Instructional Model. While at eMINTS, Terri has become a Cognitive Coaching Agency Trainer, Certified Symbaloo Educator, Google Certified Educator, Intel Master Trainer, and has developed and worked on a variety of other projects. She currently works with teachers in Missouri and undergraduates at the University of Missouri.

Doug Caldwell
Administrator Program-Kansas and Missouri Cohorts
Affiliate Trainer Program-Southeast Missouri Cohorts
[email protected]
Doug Caldwell has worked with eMINTS since 2000. Each year he provides over 100 hours of professional development as well as in-classroom instructional coaching, online training support, and on-site integration visits . He assists teachers, affiliate trainers, and building administrators with incorporating technology into daily practice and with improving student engagement through the usage of high-quality units and lesson plans. He has presented workshops regionally and nationally and is a certified Intel Senior Trainer. Doug has an Educational Specialist degree in Instructional Technology from the University of Missouri and has experience as a classroom teacher in elementary and secondary settings. He currently lives in rural Missouri with his wife and two daughters and serves as the president of his local school board. Doug's hobbies include fishing, playing guitar, fixing up old trucks, raising cattle and playing really horrible golf.
Administrator Program-Kansas and Missouri Cohorts
Affiliate Trainer Program-Southeast Missouri Cohorts
[email protected]
Doug Caldwell has worked with eMINTS since 2000. Each year he provides over 100 hours of professional development as well as in-classroom instructional coaching, online training support, and on-site integration visits . He assists teachers, affiliate trainers, and building administrators with incorporating technology into daily practice and with improving student engagement through the usage of high-quality units and lesson plans. He has presented workshops regionally and nationally and is a certified Intel Senior Trainer. Doug has an Educational Specialist degree in Instructional Technology from the University of Missouri and has experience as a classroom teacher in elementary and secondary settings. He currently lives in rural Missouri with his wife and two daughters and serves as the president of his local school board. Doug's hobbies include fishing, playing guitar, fixing up old trucks, raising cattle and playing really horrible golf.

Brooke Higgins
Affiliate Trainer Program-Southwest Missouri and Southwest Kansas Cohorts
[email protected]
Brooke Higgins, Ed.S., has supported teachers and trainers at the eMINTS National Center since 2004, with a focus on using technology to support high-quality facilitation. She enjoys working with colleagues to create professional development materials for eMINTS programs that implement student-centered, constructivist learning experiences powered by technology. Her cohorts develop a close connection and support each other through their eMINTS journey. She holds certifications as a Cognitive CoachSM as well as trainer, Google Educator, and Google for Education Certified Trainer. Brooke began her own journey as a 3rd grade eMINTS teacher in southwest Missouri and feels a close connection with both eMINTS teachers and Affiliate Trainers with whom she has the opportunity to work.
Affiliate Trainer Program-Southwest Missouri and Southwest Kansas Cohorts
[email protected]
Brooke Higgins, Ed.S., has supported teachers and trainers at the eMINTS National Center since 2004, with a focus on using technology to support high-quality facilitation. She enjoys working with colleagues to create professional development materials for eMINTS programs that implement student-centered, constructivist learning experiences powered by technology. Her cohorts develop a close connection and support each other through their eMINTS journey. She holds certifications as a Cognitive CoachSM as well as trainer, Google Educator, and Google for Education Certified Trainer. Brooke began her own journey as a 3rd grade eMINTS teacher in southwest Missouri and feels a close connection with both eMINTS teachers and Affiliate Trainers with whom she has the opportunity to work.

Dr. Keri Jones
Program Manager and Materials Development
[email protected]
Keri Jones began at eMINTS in 2014 as a graduate assistant for eMINTS eLearning, an online PD program for K-12 teachers. She is now a full-time instructional consultant at eMINTS, continuing work on eLearning and expanding to include grant projects. She earned her doctorate from the School of Information Science and Learning Technologies at the University of Missouri, focusing her dissertation research on teachers' interactions with content in link-intensive online PD. Keri has 11 years of experience in K-12 education, most of it as a secondary math teacher. In 1998, she became one of the first teachers in Missouri to earn National Board Certification. Keri lives in Columbia, MO with her husband and three teenage daughters.
Program Manager and Materials Development
[email protected]
Keri Jones began at eMINTS in 2014 as a graduate assistant for eMINTS eLearning, an online PD program for K-12 teachers. She is now a full-time instructional consultant at eMINTS, continuing work on eLearning and expanding to include grant projects. She earned her doctorate from the School of Information Science and Learning Technologies at the University of Missouri, focusing her dissertation research on teachers' interactions with content in link-intensive online PD. Keri has 11 years of experience in K-12 education, most of it as a secondary math teacher. In 1998, she became one of the first teachers in Missouri to earn National Board Certification. Keri lives in Columbia, MO with her husband and three teenage daughters.
Partners
![]() Dr. Johannes Strobel
Co-Principal Investigator Professor - STEM Education Research (Engineering & Technology) School of Information Science & Learning Technologies University of Missouri [email protected] |
Dr. Johannes Strobel had an unusual pathway to STEM Education - from monk over IT consulting and doing research as learning scientist. This pathway has lead him to pursue STEM education differently – studying empathy in engineering and defiance/troublemaking amongst innovators and students. Johannes is Professor of Learning Technologies at the University of Missouri. He has spent the last 15 years researching how students and teachers employ and benefit from engineering design and how to overcome the gender and ethnic/racial inequality in STEM education. He published over 160 papers in journals and proceedings and is co-lead designer of Hands-on Standards STEM in Action an internationally available set of learning modules for preK-5th grades. The US version is used in 200,000 classrooms reaching 6,000,000 students. The modules are also used in 35 countries and were selected as a finalist for two international education awards. Dr. Strobel received the 2018 Science Educator of the Year Award from the Academy of Science - St. Louis and the 2018 STEM Excellence Award from the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE).
Dean Gerdeman, Ph.D., is a senior director at American Institutes for Research. Gerdeman leads and advises research studies, supports research partnerships, and provides technical assistance in research and data use in education. Gerdeman has expertise in experimental and quasi-experimental evaluations of teacher preparation and professional development programs, such as Teach For America, TNTP’s Teaching Fellows, and the eMINTS program for technology-rich instruction. He has leadership roles in research programs, serving as research director for the Regional Educational Laboratory Southwest, a center serving research alliances in five states, and overseeing an evaluation for DoD STEM, a national consortium of STEM education programs. Gerdeman also partners in innovation efforts, consulting with the ECMC Foundation and College Football Playoff Foundation on investment and evaluation strategies and collaborating with schools in a Gates Foundation project developing an innovative professional learning community model. Previously, Gerdeman was a project officer for the Institute of Education Sciences in the U.S. Department of Education and is a past recipient of the American Association for the Advancement of Science policy fellowship at the National Science Foundation. He earned his doctorate in education and master’s degrees in biology and education from UCLA.
Whitney Cade, Ph.D., is a researcher at American Institutes for Research. She currently supports multiple projects, four of which are funded by the Department of Education/Institute for Education Sciences. Her work primarily focuses on student experiences in STEM subjects and STEM professional development for teachers. In her current work, she investigates student engagement in a math blended learning technology and the effects of readiness to take eighth grade algebra on future math and high school success. She is also involved in many evaluations, including an examination of a new high school computer science curriculum. Responsibilities on her projects include managing project activities; writing manuscripts; cleaning large administrative datasets; analyzing district, state, and national data; analyzing survey data; conducting classroom observations; and data mining log files from educational technologies. She has experience investigating user interaction data and analyzing chat logs from digital education programs. She is trained in propensity score analysis, mixed models, topic modeling, machine learning, natural language processing, and educational data mining. Dr. Cade received a Ph.D. in cognitive psychology from the University of Memphis and a certificate in cognitive science.