Meet Our Seminar Facilitators!
Jan Woodcock
Jan has been Director of the Pacific Northwest Great Teaching Seminar for 25 years. She was full-time faculty Umpqua Community College for 24 years in world religions, psychology, and human services. Jan was the recipient of three outstanding faculty of the year awards from colleagues, students, and transfer programs. In her retirement she continues to be passionate about empowering faculty to be the best they can be as they educate and inspire students with useful and innovative teaching practices.
April Ann Fong
As a biology and environmental studies instructor at Portland Community College, April Ann likes hands-on kinesthetic experiences, such as field experiences; experimental design and data collection; data analysis and presentation; community-based earning; and active learning, to help students learn. Her current focuses are incorporating the voices of more scientists and perspectives to help our curricula reflect interests, cultures, and ideas from our student body and community.
Holly Schiefelbein
Holly is a Life Sciences instructor at Chemeketa Community College in Salem, OR. Holly graduated from Washington State University with a B.S. in Biology, and later attended California State University, Long Beach to pursue a Masters degree specifically to teach biology at the college level. Holly is interested in mammalian behavioral evolution, and she researched how animals respond to signals from prey in graduate school. When she isn’t teaching or making YouTube videos for her class, Holly enjoys being outside and identifying flowers, fungi, birds, and the amazing biology all around us.
Karen Paez
Karen is Associate Vice President of Academic & Career Pathways for Portland Community College, where she has worked since 2008 and began as a faculty member in Psychology. She has worked in higher education for over 20 years, primarily in instructional roles as a faculty or administrator. Karen is passionate about supporting educators in developing innovative and inclusive teaching practices that lead to equitable outcomes for students. She also loves to cook but refuses to be constrained by a recipe.
Lee Collins
Lee Collins, Physics Faculty Department Co-Chair at Portland Community College, has taught physics since 2014, both in-person and online. He holds an Honors B.S. in Computational Physics and an M.S. in Physics of Ocean, Earth, and Atmospheric Science from Oregon State University, with research focused on computer modeling and climate science. Passionate about teaching, he enjoys sharing his love for physics and science. In his free time, he reads, plays music, and cooks.