Science Focus Program -

Science Focus Program

Staff: All about Sara

Education:

  • Master of Arts, Secondary Science Education, University of Nebraska, 2004. Emphasis on research, paleoecology, paleonutrition.
  • Certification, Secondary Education, (7-12), Natural Sciences, University of Nebraska, 1998.
  • Bachelor of Arts, English Literature, University of Nebraska, 1976.

Experience:

  • Secondary Science Teacher, Lincoln Public Schools Science Focus Program, l998-present.
      • Teaches Anatomy/Physiology, Biology, Botany, Chemistry, Advanced Chemistry, Environmental Science, Forensics, Genetics, Geosciences, and Zoology to students in the ninth through twelfth grades.
  • Presenter; Wonderwise Curriculum Workshop for ESU coordinators and Mentors, August 1999
  • Teacher, Wonderwise; Stupendous Science Sleepover, Morrill Hall, 1997-99.
      • Teaching fifth and sixth grade girls about science and the women who are scientists
  • Teacher/Naturalist; Pioneer's Park Nature Center, l997-98.
      • Conducted inquiry activities in field science for elementary school children from Lincoln and surrounding communities. Topics included Nebraska wetlands, communities in nature, animals of Eastern Nebraska, diversity and changing seasons
  • Co-coordinator; Young Naturalists, Pioneer's Park Nature Center, l996-98.
      • Wrote natural science based curriculum for middle school level students. Directed meetings and activities with the students.
  • Co-taught, with Dr. Ron Bonnstetter, a summer Middle Level Methods course for teachers adding a Middle Level Certification, summer l997. Assisted in creating a class calendar of activities; coordinated various fieldtrips; facilitated workshops on field biology and outdoor inquiry, with emphasis on classroom connections.

Honors and Activities:

  • Received State Farm Youth Advisory Board Grant for Service Learning, facilitated Science Day activities for 4th and 5th graders attending at the Lincoln Zoo. February 2007. This grant was written by my students, Hanna Pinneo and Lauren Pudenz.
  • Outstanding High School Science Teacher, Sigma Xi Nebraska Chapter 007, April 2005.
  • USAToday First Team recognition as part of Science Focus Program teaching team, October 15, 1999; Washington D.C. Team nominated by students for this award.
  • President, Board of Trustees, St. Monica's Home for Women, 1998-2000.
  • Board of Trustees, St. Monica’s Home for Woman, 1987-1998.
  • Cofounder and President of Everett Neighborhood Association, 1984-89.

Professional Activities:

  • Analyzed macro remains in coprolites from Antelope Cave, northwestern Arizona, summer of 2008, as part of an effort to reconstruct dietary remains of ancestral Puebloans and the environment.
  • Completed macro analysis on coprolites from Second Occupation of Salmon Ruins. Poster presentation for April 2005 meeting of American Association of Physical Anthropologists.
  • Coordinated teacher workshop for October 2003 Bat Conference.
  • Participated in National Science Foundation grant pairing Science Teachers, Preservice Teachers and University Researchers in scientific inquiry, summer of 2002. Investigated the environment of the Atacama Desert 3000-6000 years ago through dietary analysis of Chinchorro Mummy fecal remains.
  • Facilitated and led 10 students with Dr. Beth Briney on a seven-day archaeological dig in the Firehole River, a thermal river environment, in Yellowstone National Park as part of a joint collaboration between the Lincoln Public Schools Science Focus Program, the P.A.S.T. Foundation and the Midwest Archeology Center, a branch of the National Park Service, summer of 2001.
  • Chair of Science Department, LPS Science Focus Program 1999-present.
  • Team leader in statewide, lottery-funded Bumblebee survey grant, 1999-2001. Involved in workshops, teaching, and curriculum consultation and planning.

Works published/in progress:

  1. Paper presentation this coming spring in Bolzano, Italy at 1st Bolzano Mummy Congress 2009. Co-author of paper entitled, “Where Have All the Plant Foods Gone? The Search for Refined Dietary Reconstruction from Chinchorro Mummies”, with Dr. Karl J. Reinhard.
  1. Thirty-Five Years of Archaeological Research at Salmon Ruins, New Mexico (3 volumes) Publication Date: June 2006
      • Volume 1: Introduction, Architecture, Chronology, Conclusions
      • Volume 2: Ceramic Studies
      • Volume 3: Archaeobotanical & Other Analytical Studies.Contributing author.
  1. Seventy-Fourth Annual Meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists; 2005
      • Poster presentation: “A current view of Ancestral Puebloan diet: starvation vs. dietary stability”. Sara LeRoy-Toren and Karl J. Reinhard.
  2. “Historical Archaeology” VOL. 38, 2004, N0. 2 Book Review
      • Miller: Drawing on the Past: An Archaeologist's Sketchbook, Sara H. Leroy-Toren