Biography

Dolores “Lollie” Garay is an instructor in the Center for Educational Outreach, Department of Education, Innovation & Technology at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM). Her work includes developing curriculum for the National Institute on Aging-Science Education Partnership Award (NIA-SEPA); planning and delivering afterschool STEM programs and teacher professional development; and mentoring BCM affiliate K-12 schools. Recently she coauthored a published paper on integrating science-specific literacies in the elementary classroom. Lollie has collaborated with the Harris County Department of Education Science Leadership cohort’s Center for Afterschool, Summer, and Enrichment program to provide free robotics programs at the Annam Community Center in Houston. Lollie’s previous 47-year teaching career included 30 years at the Redd School where she was a Lead Science Teacher, Science Projects Coordinator, and where she initiated a robotics and engineering program. She was a FIRST robotics mentor/coach for 15 years. While teaching middle school science, her own oceanographic research experiences inspired research opportunities for her students. These included the six-year Students Monitoring Ocean Response to Eutrophication project, developed in partnership with University of Georgia marine scientist, Patricia Yager, Ph.D. Lollie has been a member of Dr. Yager’s research team for 13 years. Lollie’s experience with teacher/researcher partnerships makes her a strong supporter of developing initiatives between scientists and classroom teachers that enhance teacher content knowledge and provide students first-hand scientific work. Lollie has a Bachelor’s in Spanish from the University of Houston and a Master’s in Science Teaching in space physics/astronomy from Rice University.