Leadership

Leadership within GEP is distributed across five specialized Committees—Assessment, Community Engagement & Support, Curriculum, Professional Development, and Science & IT—each of which addresses specific priorities and are overseen by the Steering Committee.

Steering

Provides overall guidance and leadership of GEP and coordinates the specialized committees

Laura Reed, Ph.D. is a Professor of Biology at The University of Alabama. Research in the Reed Lab focuses on understanding how evolutionary, genetic, and environmental factors interact to shape complex metabolic traits, including diseases like obesity and type-2 diabetes. Laura took over as the GEP’s Program Director in 2017. Within the GEP, Laura is also the Project Leader of the Pathways Project, Chair of the Steering Committee, oversees the Virtual TAs, the Staff, and all financial aspects of the partnership.

Assessment

Assesses the effectiveness of GEP strategies for both student & faculty outcomes

Lori Boies, Ph.D., MPH is a Research Assistant Professor at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, Texas, where she also serves as Program Director of the Master of Science in Medical Genomics program. She joined the Genomics Education Partnership (GEP) in 2021 and integrates the Pathways Project into her Genes, Genomes, and Genomics course. She is passionate about creating authentic research experiences that prepare students for future careers in science and medicine.

Natalie Minkovsky, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Biology at the Community College of Baltimore County, where she teaches Introductory Biology and Microbiology. She implements the GEP Pathways project through an Intro to Genomics Honors course and independent research experiences, helping students build skills in bioinformatics, gene annotation, scientific reasoning, and communication. Dr. Minkovsky is passionate about outreach, inclusive education, and making research accessible, meaningful, and welcoming while helping students see themselves as contributors to science.

Community Engagement & Support

Establishes best practices & training for creating & maintaining a supportive environment for all GEP members & students

Maire Sustacek, Ph.D. is a biology faculty at Minneapolis Community and Technical College in Minneapolis, MN, where she teaches Genetics and Microbiology courses. She earned her Ph.D. in Molecular, Cellular, Developmental Biology and Genetics at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities in 2009. Her past research interests include repair and recombination of large DNA repeats in yeast and human cancer. Her current work focuses on CUREs and other best practices in STEM education.

Hemlata Mistry Ph.D. is a Professor in the Biology and Biochemistry Departments at Widener University. She uses GEP curricula in her sophomore-level genetics and upper-level courses in cellular and molecular biology. Her research focuses on neural development in Drosophila.

Journal Club

The Community Engagement & Support Journal Club sets a regular meeting time at the beginning of each semester.

Brian Schwartz is a professor of Biology at Columbus State University in Columbus, Georgia, where he teaches general biology, genetics, developmental biology, and evolution. He earned a B.S. in Biology from the University of Memphis and a Ph.D. in Genetics from the University of Wisconsin.

Curriculum

Develops & updates curriculum & specialized pedagogy for all levels of undergraduate biology

Andrea Perreault, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor in the Biology Department at Elon University. She primarily teaches an introductory genetics course, but also teaches Biotechnology and Cancer Genomics upper level courses. Dr. Perreault’s research focuses on computational cancer genomics, and how genetic and epigenetic factors impact cancer development.

Professional Development & Mentoring

Maintains training & professional development opportunities for all GEP members & includes the Regional Nodes, New Member Training, & Mentoring subcommittees

Jeff French earned his Ph.D. in biological sciences from the University of South Carolina in 2008, just after being hired into full-time teaching at North Greenville University (NGU, Carolinas Node), a 2,000-student private Christian college in the Upstate of SC. His graduate training was partly ecology, partly molecular, and his molecular evolution research switched from wet-lab work to a bioinformatics approach in 2005. At NGU, he previously served as Chair of Biology and is now Associate Dean of Science and Math. He joined the GEP through online training in late 2020. He uses GEP curriculum in his sophomore-level genetics course and has had independent research students practicing annotation since 2021, recently under the framework of the Pathways project.

Michele Eller earned her Ph.D. from Clemson University in Genetics and is now an Associate Professor of Biology at Southern Wesleyan University in Central, SC. She teaches undergraduate courses in genetics, biochemistry, and cellular and molecular biology. Her current focus is on supporting independent research among undergraduate students, and the GEP provides many accessible research projects that can be incorporated in a classroom setting. Since joining the GEP in 2020, she has implemented GEP curriculum and led students through Pathways project annotations in several CUREs. She is a member of the Carolinas node and previously served as the node’s Co-Leader for the 2025-26 academic year. She looks forward to supporting her fellow GEP members through this new role as the PDM Committee Vice Chair.

Training & Mentoring

Coordinates training and mentoring of new and existing members

Melinda A. Yang received her Ph.D. in Integrative Biology with a Designated Emphasis in Computational Genomics from UC Berkeley and is now an Associate Professor of Biology at the University of Richmond in Richmond, VA. Her research focuses on the use of computational and population genomic methods to study evolutionary history, particularly in humans of East Asia. She regularly teaches classes on bioinformatics and human evolutionary genomics, and she implements GEP research projects in an introductory biology course focused on research methods. She served as the Director of Regional Nodes in the 2023–2024 academic year and looks forward to helping GEP faculty implement GEP science projects and make connections as Director of Training and Mentoring.

Jennifer (Jenni) Kennell received her Ph.D. in Cellular and Molecular Biology from the University of Michigan (Go Blue!) in 2005 and is now a Professor of Biology at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY. She regularly teaches classes related to genetics, including an intermediate level molecular genetics course in which she has incorporated the GEP curriculum and research projects since she joined the GEP in 2014. Her current research focuses on characterizing the role of a family of predicted HAD-domain containing phosphatases in fruit fly metabolism and behavior.

Regional Nodes

Coordinates events for regional clusters of participating GEP institutions

Kellie O’Rourke, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Biology at Carroll College in Helena, MT. She teaches Anatomy and Physiology I and II, Reproductive Science and Medicine, Cell Biology, and Developmental Biology. Kellie earned her Ph.D. in Molecular Biology at Washington State University in 2016 and was an IRACDA Postdoctoral Scholar at the University of Minnesota. Her research has included characterizing the role of Liver Receptor Homolog 1 (LRH1) in the mouse testis and manipulating Retinoic Acid levels to study spermatogenesis during the first wave and establishment of spermatogonial stem cells in the mouse testis. Currently, her lab is focused on using CRISPR/Cas9 to ask questions about the role of LRH1 in human testicular cancer cell lines.

Cheryl Bardales received her Ph.D. from Penn State University and a M.Ed from the Ohio State University. She is an Assistant Professor of Biology at LSU of Alexandria, where she teaches Genetics, Cell and Molecular Biology, and Biochemistry. Her teaching focuses on making complex biological concepts understandable and supporting students to apply data-driven approaches in modern biology. She is actively involved in curriculum development that emphasizes interdisciplinary skills and high-impact learning experiences.

Science & IT

Advises on development of new research questions and on issues related to the web framework

Amanda Stahlke is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Colorado Mesa University, a PUI in western Colorado. She teaches introductory biology courses for majors and nonmajors, as well as Genetics. Her research focus is genome biology, population genomics, and evolution of biocontrol agents, such as the tamarisk beetle (Diorhabda spp.). She and Dr. Zeynep Özsoy are developing the tamarisk beetle science project as a case study for GEP approaches in non-model insects.

Dr. Alondra Díaz Lameiro is an Associate Professor and Director of the Tropical Conservation and Genomic Analysis Laboratory at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez. Her research focuses on population genetics, evolutionary biology, and conservation genomics, with an emphasis on understanding biodiversity in tropical ecosystems. As a participant in the GEP, she serves as a project leader for the Puerto Rican Parrot Project and has implemented GEP materials into various courses. Her research group has secured external funding to support projects in conservation genomics, evolution, STEM education, and workforce development, providing opportunities for students to engage in both laboratory and computational research. Through her work with GEP and her university, she advocates for collaborative and student-centered approaches to genomics education and scientific discovery.

Page Last Updated: July 6, 2026

About

Publications

Directories

Members

Curriculum

Research Projects

Students

Leadership

Committees

Steering

Laura K. Reed

Assessment

Lori Boies

Natalie Minkovsky

Community Engagement & Support

Maire K. Sustacek

Hemlata Mistry

Journal Club

Brian Schwartz

Curriculum

Andrea Perreault

Professional Development & Mentoring

Jeff French

Michele Eller

Training & Mentoring

Melinda Yang

Jenni Kennell

Regional Nodes

Kellie S. O'Rourke

Cheryl Bardales

Science & IT

Amanda Stahlke

Alondra Díaz Lameiro