|
Staff Bios |
| Field Trip Ideas | Staff |
The faculty and staff of SSWIMS each bring a multitude of skills to the program from their varied interests and experiences. The common bond between all SSWIMS staff is a love of the marine sciences and the desire to provide resources and assistance to grades K-12 teachers with the goal of increasing student achievement through an integrative science education philosophy. Click on a name below to find out more about a particular staff member.
William Hamner received his Bachelor of Arts in Zoology from Yale University and his Ph.D. in Zoology from the University of California, Los Angeles. Peggy Hamner has a B. A. degree in Zoology and a Master of Science degree in Marine Ecology, both from the University of California, Davis. They have been a research team since 1972, with a primary research interest in the behavior of marine animals. Their research approach emphasizes use of SCUBA or research submersibles to conduct in situ studies of undisturbed individual animals in their own environment and to collect undamaged live animals for additional research on their behavior in specially designed aquariums.
In 1974 their research interests took them to Queensland, Australia, where they worked for 3 years at the Australian Institute of Marine Science, conducting research on coral reef ecosystems. After Australia they lived for 2 years in Palau, an island nation in the western Pacific, where they began a long-term research project on the ecology of the saltwater lakes in Palau. Their ongoing research in Jellyfish Lake in Palau was featured in the IMAX film, "The Living Sea."
Since 1979 Bill and Peggy have been based at UCLA in Los Angeles, where they work together in the Department of Organismal Biology, Ecology and Evolution (OBEE). Dr. Hamner is a Professor on the faculty and Peggy is a Staff Research Associate. They continue to do field research on marine animals off the California coast and in Palau, Australia and the Gulf of California. In addition to their research and instruction at the university level, during the past 8 years they have been directing marine science outreach education programs for both teachers and students, with funding from UCLA, the National Science Foundation and private donors.
popular articles on their research:
Hamner, W. M. Oct. 1974. Blue-water plankton. Nat'l. Geogr. Mag. 146: 530-545.
Hamner, W. M. Feb. 1982. Strange world of Palau's salt lakes. Nat'l. Geogr. Mag. 161: 264-282.
Hamner, W. M. May 1984. Krill: Untapped bounty? Nat'l. Geogr. Mag. 165: 626-643.
Hamner, W. M. Aug. 1994. Australia's box jellyfish: a killer down under. Nat'l. Geogr. Mag. 186: 116-130.
Dr. Strand received his B.A. and M.A. from San Jose State Universiy, working on the Mountain Meadow Ecology project. His Ph.D. is from UC Davis in Marine Biology. He came to UCLA in 1978. He has been involved in teacher education outreach programs since 1979.
His research has taken him to Antarctica, Canada, Mexico, Galapagos, Tahiti, the California Channel Islands, Monterey Bay, and most recently, Santa Monica Bay.
His primary research is on predator-prey interactions and while he works mostly on fishes, he studied krill in Antarctica, jellyfish in Canada and ctenophores off Catalina Island. He has led UCLA field classes to Bodega Bay, Catalina, Hawaii, Moorea and all of the UC terrestrial field sites.
He was the Director of UC Berkeley's Marine Lab on Moorea during 1996-1998. Presently, he is the Academic Administrator and Chair of the Life Science Core at UCLA. As chair of the Core, he is responsible for the series of four introductory courses taken by all Life Science Majors at UCLA. He is also the Acting Director of the UCLA Ocean Discovery Center.
Dr. Sid Sitkoff Dr. Sitkoff is Co-Director of SSWIMS and was also, co-director of the 2 predecessors of SSWIMS , the "Marine Science Teacher Education Program" (MSTEP) and "Leadership in Marine Science" (LIMS).
Prior to co-directing the UCLA-NSF programs, Sid retired from LAUSD, having served as an elementary and secondary teacher, Instructional Supervisor, and Instructional Specialist in Science. He also taught science education classes at Loyola Marymount University and worked with Peace Corps science teachers at the University of Southern California. Sid has also co-directed the National Space Science Student Involvement Program sponsored by NASA. He is a director and author of nationally published science programs including "Stones and Bones," "On My Own," "Nuclear Age Issues" and "Earthquake Awareness and Preparedness." Sid has received awards from NASA, the California State Boards of Education, National Science Teachers and National Teacher of Biology Associations as well as the Los Angeles County Department of Education.
Sid's first contact with Dr. Bill Hamner, and subsequently the UCLA-NSF teacher enhancement programs began when they participated on a regional marine science committee. The committee had, as one of its priorities, the pursuit of teacher marine science education. However, the committee was unable to proceed with this priority so the UCLA proposal to the National Science Foundation for the Marine Science Teachers Education Program was submitted independently Dr. Hamner and Sitkoff. MSTEP was approved by NSF and has been succeeded by LIMS and the current SSWIMS program covering a total period of eleven years and training over 500 teachers. Improving science education and student achievement through intensive training and empowering teachers is what this collaborative has accomplished.
Ms. Tami Boroch
Tami has been the Administrative Specialist for the Marine Science Center for the past 6 years. Her role is to provide support for all programs that run under the UCLA Marine Science Center umbrella. This includes scheduling of cruises aboard the r/v Sea World UCLA, coordinating logistics for the SSWIMS teacher program and maintaining accounting for both the SSWIMS program and Sea World UCLA.
Arslan received his Bachelor of Arts in Neuroscience from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota. He taught biology and health in Pasadena for seven years before joining the SSWIMS program for it's last year of operation. He plans to return to teaching in the fall of 2003. Arslan also maintains the sswims website so please email him with questions or comments.
Email us
Telephone: 310-206-8247
Fax: 310-206-3987
SSWIMS/Marine Science Center
621 Charles Young Drive South
Los Angeles, CA 90095
