Jason Buell is a postdoc at Northwestern University. He is a former middle and elementary school teacher and did his PhD at the University of Colorado Boulder.

Tommy Clayton is a Curriculum Development Specialist at Northwestern University. Prior to his current position he taught middle school science for 11 years and spent a year as a K-5 STEAM specialist in NJ public schools. Tommy was an OpenSciEd middle school field test teacher and writer for several of the middle school units.  He also helped support the development of professional learning videos for elementary and middle school teachers to learn from.

Kelsey Edwards is the Senior Project Coordinator of the Reiser Lab at Northwestern University. She is a part of the research team working on teacher professional development surrounding three-dimensional learning in the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Kelsey is also part of the development team to develop K-12 curriculum designed to meet the learning goals of NGSS. As part of that project, she studies teacher and student learning as they engage in these curricular units. She performs analysis for the team using qualitative and quantitative methods. In addition to research, she helps support the projects’ financial processes.

Gail has worked on several design teams for OpenSciEd and is currently helping lead development of OpenSciEd Elementary to create storyline-based NGSS units for grades K-5. Prior to her current position, she taught fourth and fifth grades and participated in several science-related efforts in her district. Gail received her Masters in Education from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Areal Joplin is a unit lead and writer for the OpenSciEd Developers Consortium. Before joining the team, Areal taught middle school science for 5 years and STEAM coordinator for Chicago public schools.

Amy is currently a Curriculum Development Specialist at Northwestern University. This role includes creating storyline-based NGSS units for grades K-5 for OpenSciEd Elementary. She also teaches Methods of Elementary School Science at Northwestern University. Prior to her current position, she taught third - sixth grade science and participated in several science-related efforts with Chicago Public Schools.

Jacob Noll is a unit lead and writer for the OpenSciEd Developers Consortium. Previously, he has contributed to the development of both high school and elementary science curricula, including two high school OpenSciEd chemistry units and three additional OpenSciEd Elementary units. Before joining the team, Jacob taught high school science for over a decade. He holds a Master's in Teaching from the University of Washington.

Michael Novak develops NGSS-designed curriculum materials and professional development for the Next Generation Science Storylines project at Northwestern University. He is currently working on several development teams in the OpenSciEd Developers Consortium to build storyline-based middle school NGSS units and professional development resources. He has also authored instructional units and computational models for the Center for Connected Learning. Novak is a 2014 Golden Apple Fellow and National Board-Certified teacher.

Nicole works on multiple OpenSciEd development teams, serving as a course and unit lead and writer. Prior to joining the Next Generation Science Storylines project, she was a high school science teacher for 18 years teaching a multitude of courses. Nicole has led professional development to support educators transitioning to three-dimensional teaching across the United States. She is active in state and national science education organizations having served as an NSTA District Director, ISTA President, and was named a NSELA 2024 VESEL Scholar. She received a Doctorate of Education from the University of Missouri St. Louis.

Dan serves as a unit lead and writer on OpenSciEd units, with an emphasis on middle school integrated computer science and (previously) high school chemistry. He joined the team after years as a high school chemistry and physics teacher. Dan was named Iowa State University College of Engineering student marshal, is a Knowles Senior Fellow, and is pursuing a PhD in STEM Education at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. He also co-hosts the podcast Unpack Everything: Science Education Reform in the Real World.

Yang Zhang is a postdoc at Northwestern University. She is a former elementary school teacher and obtained her PhD from University of Rochester. She is currently working on the Customize project where she studies teacher learning using curriculum customization as a catalyst for equitable science teaching.

Gen Zoufal is the Project Administrator for the Reiser Lab. She is the Project Manager for the OpenSciEd Elementary Developers Consortium and the OpenSciEd Middle School Computer Science curriculum development team. As Project Administrator, she designs and supports collaborative teams, manages timelines, and oversees finances. Prior to her work with the Reiser Lab, Gen facilitated Arts Integration and Community Building programming in schools across the St. Louis Region.

Tara A. W. McGill is a Curriculum Development Specialist at Northwestern University. Prior to her current position, she taught ninth-grade biology in Chicago Public Schools and developed curriculum materials with Ag in Progress Partnership, NFP.  She researched honey bee biology and behavior in the Entomology Department at the University of Illinois-Urbana/Champaign (UIUC). While at UIUC, she also performed informal science outreach and collaborated on several science education projects. McGill is also a facilitator and member of the design team for the Next Generation Science Exemplar System for Professional Development (NGSX), a web-based professional development system designed to help educators grow in their understanding of three-dimensional learning.

Christina Murzynski was the Research Study Coordinator in Reiser Lab at Northwestern University. She worked with the research group analyzing teacher practices and the promotion of three-dimensional learning while bringing NGSS-aligned curriculum to their classrooms. Christina was also part of the design team for PLC NextGenScience Storylines, a web-based system, used by educators and facilitators to help develop and implement strategies for supporting three-dimensional learning on a unit-by-unit basis within professional development settings. Before this, Christina contributed to the creation of K-12 socio-emotional development curriculum as an undergraduate at Penn State Behrend.

Jamie Noll is a National Board Certified teacher. She is currently working on several development teams in the OpenSciEd Developers Consortium to develop storyline-based middle school NGSS units. Prior to her current position, she taught ninth-grade biology in Washington and middle school science in Illinois. Jamie was a Noyce Scholar and received her Masters in Teaching from the University of Washington.

Aliza Zivic is a PhD candidate in Learning Sciences at Northwestern University. She holds a degree in Chemistry from Barnard College. After graduating from Barnard, she worked for an organization in Washington, D.C. that supported the White House and other federal agencies on science policy. Aliza's current work at Northwestern revolves around co-constructing Chemistry storylines with teachers and looking at student learning and identity formation in the NGSS-aligned science classroom.