Lewis & Clark Panelists

  • Moderator

    Liza Finkel, PhD, is an Associate Professor and the Director of the Secondary MAT Program in the Teacher Education Department at the Lewis & Clark Graduate School of Education and Counseling. Her teaching and research focus on preparing preservice teachers to become social justice educators, and on increasing the participation of students from currently underrepresented groups in STEM majors and teaching.

  • Cheyenne Montgomery teaches high school science for the Vancouver Public School District. She earned her BA in biology at Reed College, her MS in Education Policy at Portland State University, and her MAT at Lewis & Clark Graduate School of Education. Her teaching practice focuses on creating inclusive learning environments and relevant curriculum for her students.

  • Sahnzi Chow Moyers, PhD, MAT, is a high school science teacher for Portland Public Schools and previous research scientist. She earned her BS in zoology from Oregon State University, her PhD in biology from Virginia Tech, and her MAT from Lewis and Clark Graduate School of Education. Sahnzi’s research focused on infectious disease ecology and behavioral ecology in wild songbirds. As an educator, Sahnzi strives to make science accessible, engaging, empowering, and relevant for all students.

  • Norma Velazquez Ulloa, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Biology, and also faculty in the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology program and the Neuroscience Minor at the College of Arts and Sciences of Lewis & Clark College. She teaches biology and neuroscience courses for majors and non-majors and is passionate about demystifying science for everyone to increase diversity and inclusion in STEM.

  • Yeganeh Jalalpouris a Computer Science PhD student at Portland State University with a research focus on multimedia systems and machine learning.

  • Sonya King is a student of the Secondary MAT Program at Lewis & Clark. She earned her bachelor of science degree in biochemistry and biophysics and worked as a researcher at NIH, UPenn, and OHSU, publishing in the field for a dozen years before leaving to raise two children. Sonya’s current aim in becoming an educator is to contribute to a society that respects and relies on sound evidence to inform government policies, especially with regards to social justice, the environment, and the health and well being of all people.

  • Hibaq Adan, MAT, is a current Chemistry high school teacher at Sunset High School. A Lewis & Clark alumna, she continues to focus on implementing inclusive brave spaces for all her students and teaches from a social justice lens by being an AVID teacher and hosting the Science Ambassadors club. She is always learning and collaborating as she is in progress of becoming an anti-bias and antiracist educator. When she is not teaching, she enjoys traveling, exploring Portland, and catching sunsets.