EDUCATION

Texas A&M University (Aug 2021 - Aug 2025)

• • • Ph.D. student in Science Education; Advisor: Dr. Benjamin Herman

Texas A&M University (Aug 2018 - Jul 2021)

• • • M.S. in the Ecology & Evolutionary Biology Program; Advisors: Dr. Gil Rosenthal, Dr. Mary Wicksten

University of Puerto Rico at Cayey (2017)

• • • B.S. in Natural Sciences, Biology 

University of Notre Dame (2016 - 2017)

PUBLICATIONS

• De Jesús, D. J., & Clough, M. P. (2023). The Colors of Kernels: Exploring Inheritance Patterns Using Corn. The American Biology Teacher, 85(9), 526–531. https://doi.org/10.1525/abt.2023.85.9.526

• Herman, B. C., Poor, S. V., Clough, M. P., Rao, A., Kidd, A. E., De Jesús, D. J., & Varghese, D. (Accepted). It’s not just a science thing: Educating future STEM professionals through Mis/disinformation responsive instruction. Invited submission to the Journal of Research in Science Teaching; special issue Learning and teaching in times of science denial and disinformation.

• Kidd, A. E., De Jesús, D. J., & Poor, S. (2024). Elephant Tusks and Natural Selection: Leveraging Naïve Student Models to Identify and Address Misconceptions Surrounding Evolutionary Theory. The American Biology Teacher, 86(2), 94–100. https://doi.org/10.1525/abt.2024.86.2.94

• Wilkerson, N., De Jesús, D. J., & Adam, K. (Accepted). Constraints in PK-8 STEM Classrooms: A Mixed Methods Study. 2023 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE) Proceedings, College Station, Texas.

RESEARCH & TEACHING EXPERIENCE

NSF-Funded Research (Aug 2021 – present)

• • Projects: 1) Story Behind the Pseudoscience: Promoting Informed Socioscientific Decision-making, 2) Beyond the Science: Factors that Influence University Biology Students’ COVID-19 Actions and Vaccine Acceptance

    • Goals: to produce highly impactful and enduring instructional materials that: (a) target pseudoscience and its harmful impacts on decision-making; (b) promote science content and Nature of Science understanding; (c) foster trust in the scientific community and the knowledge it produces; (d) improve future pseudoscience detection and decision-making in socio-scientific issues.

Course Instructor (Fall 2022, Fall 2023)

• • Course: Inquiries in Life and Earth Sciences, Texas A&M

Laboratory Instructor (Aug 2020 – May 2021)

• • Course: Zoology 107, Biology Dept., Texas A&M University

  • Course: Biology 112, Biology Dept., Texas A&M University

Research mentorship (Jun 2018 – Aug 2018)

• • Program: University of Notre Dame Environmental Research Center (UNDERC) West, National Bison Range, Montana

  • Roles: Teaching assistant, research mentor for undergraduate students

Research internship (Jun 2017 – Aug 2017)

• • Program: University of Notre Dame Environmental Research Center (UNDERC) West, National Bison Range, Montana

  • Research title: “Grasshopper coloration and its effect on camouflage behavior of Melanoplus spp. communities at the National Bison Range.” Mentor: José C. Wharton-Soto

  • Roles: grasshopper sampling, handling, and identification, statistical analyses using RStudio and R Commander

Research internship (May 2016 – Jul 2016)

• • Program: University of Notre Dame Environmental Research Center (UNDERC) East, University of Notre Dame property in Land O’ Lakes, Wisconsin

  • Research title: “Freshwater zooplankton coloration as a possible evolutionary adaptation.” Mentors: Dr. Grace Wilkinson, Cal Buelo

  • Roles: zooplankton sampling and handling, lake-water clarity profiling, photomicrography, image processing using GIMP software, statistical analyses using RStudio

AWARDS

• Avilés-Johnson Fellowship (Sep 2021 - Aug 2025) By the Dr. Dionel Avilés ’53 and Dr. James Johnson ’67 Fellowship Program in Teaching, Learning & Culture, Texas A&M University

• NSF BTD Fellowship (Sep 2018 - Aug 2020) By the National Science Foundation (NSF) Texas A&M University System (TAMUS) Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) Bridge-to-the-Doctorate (BTD) Fellowship Program