Nichole Pinkard
OCEP Faculty Director, Alice Hamilton Professor of Learning Sciences
northwestern.edu/nicholepinkardOCEP Faculty Director, Alice Hamilton Professor of Learning Sciences
northwestern.edu/nicholepinkardAssistant Dean for Community Education Partnerships
Ferrin oversees and manages the development and administration of OCEP programs and partnerships. She works in collaboration with faculty, staff, community partners and school districts to advance the research, capacity-building, and community partnership goals of OCEP, SESP, Northwestern, and partner organizations. Ferrin has been a part of OCEP since 2013 working various roles. Most recently she was the director of programs, working to operationalize and execute on organizational strategy. For many years previous she was the program director and resident scientists for for the Baxter Center for Science Education. Ferrin earned a bachelor's degree from Marlboro College and a PhD from Dartmouth College.
Partnership Coordinator
(847) 424-7406 (ETHS office)Kristen Perkins-LaFollette, of Northwestern’s Office of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Education Partnerships, serves as partnership coordinator for the office. She works to increase collaboration between Northwestern and Evanston Township High School (ETHS) and to enhance ETHS's learning opportunities.
Ms. Perkins-LaFollette taught science at Roberto Clemente High School in Chicago and was the 2007 Teacher-in-Residence in the School of Education and Social Policy. She has published and presented with the International Conference on Learning Sciences (ICLS), the National Association of Science Teachers (NSTA), and the National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST). Perkins-LaFollette graduated from Purdue University in 2003 with a bachelor of science in biology education.