Board of Directors

Martin Bremer
President

Carol Zimmerman
Vice President

Kerry Maddox
Treasurer

Todd Bevis

Dr. Barry Boerner

Kathryn Travis

Michael M. Ledyard Jr., Esq

Susan Vinson

Shirin Djemgou

Ilya Litvik

Shirin Djemgou
Barry, Environmental Manager & Chemist, Retired
“Make no judgments where you have no compassion.” –Anne McCaffrey, writer (1 Apr 1926-2011)
“I have been given this mountain to show others it can be moved” – author unknown
Todd Bevis earned his master’s degree in biological science and has been a practicing scientist
and science educator since then. He has worked in K-12 science outreach programs and
professional development programs for inservice teachers at the secondary and post-secondary
levels for 20 years. He is the Director of Teacher Professional Development Programs for the
Office of STEM Teaching Activities in the College of Arts & Sciences at Florida State University
and is also a certified Clinical Education Trainer. He not only is engaged in research on science
teaching and learning with a focus on teacher professional development and its impact on
student learning, but also regularly works with teachers in their classrooms. He has published
numerous scholarly articles in peer-reviewed journals in both science and science education. He
is currently engaged in an NSF-funded research project on how best to design professional
development to help teachers foster productive discourse in the science classroom and a
project funded by the National Academy of Sciences to develop environmental education
curricula with a focus on socio-environmental challenges for coastal communities.
Susan has a passion for STEM education and has received multiple awards and grants for her classroom science projects. She has participated in Science, Technology, and Math teacher training workshops and has served as a BLAST Board member since 1997 and is the current president of the organization. She is the BLAST representative to the TSS Board and as such, coordinates programs between the two Boards.
Bio
Ilya is Senior Research Associate at the Magnet Lab, specializing in scientific hardware for magnetic resonance (NMR). He has a BS and PhD in Chemistry (1998, 2010). In 2018 he started Neighborhood Camp Fair project. The project goal is to connect students (parents) from Tallahassee underserved communities with existing free and subsidized STEAM programs – especially summer camps. Within this project we annually organize two Camp Fair events – for younger and older school-age population – where families can meet summer camp providers in time to sign up for the programs. Since inception, more than 400 students from K-12 grades have attended our Fairs, with 60-75% coming from Title I schools. The project team is volunteer-based, with members from Magnet Lab, FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, and FAMU Cooperative Extension. We closely collaborate with TSS, Pineview Elementary school and other Leon County schools, and neighborhood associations from Tallahassee South Side. This project serves as important infrastructure to facilitate STEM awareness among school-age kids, and aims to spark a lifelong interest in STEM fields and learning in general among underserved youth in Tallahassee and surrounding areas. Ilya is continuing the Neighborhood Camp Fair Project under the auspices of TSS.