Experience

Professional Experience

2007-present Director of Programming and Implementation, Southeast Regional T-STEM Center, UTMB-Galveston.
Responsibilities include day-to-day oversight of the center operations, evaluation of existing curricula, development of new curricula, coordination of educational efforts of co-directors at each of the partnering institutions, as well as maintaining communications with the SRT-STEM Center school district teams and team associates so there is consistency in program implementation.
1998-2007 Associate Director/Project Coordinator/Curriculum Specialist, Rice University.
Responsibilities included all aspects of curriculum design, development, and implementation of extended professional development programs for in-service teachers in the Houston area including:
  • Equitable Classroom Practices Institute (K-12 educators, 1998-2000)
  • Science and Mathematics Institute/Co-PI for Teacher Quality Grants  (elementary teachers, 1999-2004)
  • Micro to Macro Institute/Co-PI for Teacher Quality Grants  (middle school teachers, 2000-2006)
  • National Space Biomedical Research Institute for Teachers (secondary teachers, 2001-2007)
  • TExES Success Institute/Co-PI for Teacher Quality Grant (middle school teachers, 2004-2005)
  • Elementary Physics and Chemistry (HISD program for elementary teachers, 2004 and 2005)
Duties also included technology and graphic design support, as well as writing grant proposals to extend the work of Rice University’s Precollege Science Education Programs to increase representation of women and underrepresented ethnic minorities in science and mathematics. Served as co-editor of Space Connections: Science Activities for Earth-Based Humans (2005), a collection of laboratory activities developed by teachers in the National Space Biomedical Research Institute for Teachers.
1997-1998 Project Developer/Coordinator, National Space Biomedical Research Institute Project, Texas
A & M University, College Station, Texas
1996-1997 K-8 Classroom Observer (contract), Stallings Observation System, Research Team Member; Texas Poll of Elementary School Teachers, Statewide Systemic Initiative, sponsored by the Charles A. Dana Center, Texas A & M University, College Station, Texas
1996 Instructor, Secondary Science Education Methods, Texas A & M University, College Station, Texas
1995-1997 Project Developer/Coordinator, GTE TENET/Internet Project, Texas Alliance for Science and Mathematics Education, Texas A & M University, College Station, Texas
1989-1990 Adjunct Faculty (anatomy and physiology), North Harris County Community College, Houston, Texas
1989-1990 Curriculum Writer (contract) for Modern Biology (1996 edition), Holt, Rinehart, & Winston
1984-1995 Teacher (biology and physical science)/Science Department Chairperson (1991-1995),
Oak Ridge High School, Conroe ISD, Texas
1980 Adjunct Faculty (medical transcription), North Harris County Community College, Houston, Texas
1977-1979 Research Assistant, University of Texas Medical School, Houston, Texas
Publication: Jensen, D.  L., & Castro, G. A. (1980). Trichinella spiralis: Generation in the presence
of rat serum of factors chemotactic for rat cells. Experimental Parasitology, 52 (1), 53-61.
1972-1973 Teacher (middle school math and science), Notre Dame High School and Sacred Heart Academy, Biloxi, Mississippi
1970-1971 Graduate Teaching Assistant (biology laboratory), University of Hartford, West Hartford, Connecticut
1969-1970 Teacher (elementary math and science), Immaculate Heart of Mary School, Big Spring, Texas

Selected Presentations

Give Them a Reason to Learn, Metropolitan Association for Teaching Science (MATS) and Region 4 Education Service Center Science Conference, Houston, TX, 2009
Explore Gravity and the Human Body, Houston ISD Workshop for Middle School Teachers, Houston, TX, 2008
Mathematical Modeling for Science Systems, National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) National Conference, St. Louis, MO; Conference for the Advancement of Science Teaching (CAST), Austin, TX, 2007
Equitable Classroom Practices, Astronomical Society of the Pacific Conference, Chicago, IL, 2007
The Medium is the Message, Astronomical Society of the Pacific Conference, Baltimore, MD, 2006
Smart Medical Systems, National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) Regional Conferences, Hartford, CT and Nashville, TN, 2005
A Case Study of a Teacher’s Decision-Making System Using Physiological and Behavioral Time Series Data and Exploration of the Role of Physiological Responses in Instructional Decision-Making
American Education Research Association Conference, Montreal, Canada, 2005
Nonexperimental Quantitative Description of an Exemplary Teacher’s Instruction Using Time Series Data Educational Research Exchange, Texas A & M University, College Station, TX, 2003
Equity Initiatives in Science and Math and The Heart of Science and Mathematics Instruction
ASCD Conference, San Antonio, TX, 2002
Identification & Assessment of Gifted/Talented Students and The Nature & Needs of Gifted/Talented Students Rice University Precollege Science Education G/T Workshops, Houston, TX, 2001-2004
From Toys to Technology and Using Manipulatives to Build Spatial Reasoning
Conference for the Advancement of Science Teaching (CAST), Austin, TX, 2001
Lessons for Human Brains
Expanding Your Horizons (EYH/AAUW), The Rice School, Houston, TX, 2001
Bringing Equity to Our Schools and Classrooms
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA, 2000