March 1, 2025

In this Issue:

• Vedham Karpakakunjaram Named NABT President-Elect
• Nominations for NABT Awards Due March 15
• Submit Your Session For NABT2025
• Help Us Find the Next Leaders of NABT
• Sponsor Spotlight: Thea is Calling All Biology Teachers!
• Announcing the Passing of Leonard Blessing
• Student & Educator Teams Invited to Enter NABT CESR Virtual Poster Competition

Vedham Karpakakunjaram Named NABT President-Elect

On February 19, 2025, the NABT Board of Directors appointed Dr. Vedham Karpakakunjaram as the NABT President-Elect. Vedham ran for NABT President in 2024, with Lindsey (Carter) Fields winning that election. Per NABT policies, the losing candidate is asked to serve when an NABT officer cannot perform their appointed duties.

Vedham is a Biology Professor and Acting Department Chair at Montgomery College in Rockville, Maryland. He joined NABT in 2016 and frequently contributes to NABT programs. He has presented at the NABT Professional Development Conference, reviewed and authored articles for The American Biology Teacher, coordinated webinars, and was the NABT Two-Year Section Chair in 2021.

One of Vedham's primary focuses is providing opportunities for passionate educators, especially those from the two-year college level, to get more involved in NABT. For example, he used support from his NSF-funded project, Quantitative Biology @ Community Colleges (QB@CC), to provide memberships, conference registrations, and mini-grants to educators.

"The NABT conference is where I met and got inspired by the most welcoming and dedicated leader, and a dear friend, Lindsey Fields. I am stepping in to serve the NABT community for the next three years to continue the good work that has been started by Lindsey. As a service-oriented leader myself, I look forward to working with and serving the NABT community to the best of my abilities in the coming years."

We welcome Dr. Vedham Karpakakunjaram to the NABT Board of Directors and look forward to his NABT presidency in 2026.

Nominations for NABT Awards Due March 15

NABT recognizes great teachers. So do you! Help us celebrate great biology and life science teaching by nominating a colleague, friend, or yourself for an NABT Award.

With support from our generous sponsors, NABT has a diverse awards program that recognizes teachers for expertise in specific subject areas, contributions to the profession made by new teachers, and service to NABT, life science teaching, or leadership in learning communities.

More information about these awards is available below:

• Ecology/Environmental Science Award
• Evolution Education Award
• Excellence in Encouraging JEDI Award
• Genetics Education Award
• Outstanding New Biology Teacher Award
• Ron Mardigian Biotechnology Award

Each state, province, and territory can also recognize an Outstanding Biology Teacher (OBTA). The nomination deadline for this award is March 1st, and there is still time to sneak in a nomination at 2025 NABT Awards.

Educators at the AP and undergraduate levels can be nominated for the following teaching and research awards:

• Four-Year College & University Section Research in Biology Education Award
• Four-Year College & University Section Biology Teaching Award
• Kim Foglia AP Biology Service Award
• Prof. Chan Two-Year College Award for the Engaged Teaching of Biology
• Two-Year College Biology Teaching Award

NABT also has two scholarship opportunities. The Jennifer Pfannerstill Travel Award provides support for a biology teacher from any level to attend the NABT Conference for the first time.

The Biology Educator Leadership Scholarship (BELS) offers $5000 in tuition support for graduate programs. This award is available to NABT members who have been teaching for 10 years or less.

All 2025 award winners will be recognized during a special awards event at the NABT Professional Development Conference in St. Louis.

Submit your NABT award nominations today at 2025 Award Nomination Form.

Submit Your Session For NABT2025

Don't miss your opportunity to share innovative teaching strategies, informative research, and best practices with other passionate educators! NABT is accepting session proposals for the 2025 NABT Professional Development Conference until April 1, 2025.

Join us from October 30 to November 2, 2025, at the beautiful St. Louis Union Station Hotel in St. Louis, Missouri, for the only conference designed for biology and life science educators by biology and life science educators.

Full submission guidelines are available to help you prepare materials before submitting your session online at 2025 NABT Conference Proposals.

Do you have a great idea but don't think it will fill a 75-minute session? Don't worry, we always need 30-minute sessions.

Is this the first time you are submitting? 40% of sessions at the 2024 NABT Conference were from 1st ime presenters, and we always like to learn from new people!

Do you have other questions? You can always contact NABT using the chat feature on NABT.org or feel free to crowdsource answers from the NABT Facebook Group.

Other Considerations:

• NABT will accept sessions until 11:59 PM Pacific on Tuesday, April 1, 2025. 
• You may submit an unlimited number of proposals. However, acceptance will be limited to two education sessions per presenter.
• You may also present posters, research papers, exhibitor sessions, and symposiums in addition to the two sessions.
• The NABT Professional Development Committee will review session proposals, and acceptance notifications will be sent to presenters by May 30, 2025.
• Upon acceptance, all session presenters must register and pay the appropriate fees to attend the NABT Professional Development Conference in St. Louis.
• Please make sure all co-presenters are aware of this requirement before submission.

We look forward to receiving your proposals and welcoming you to the 2025 NABT Conference in St. Louis!

Calling All Biology Teachers!

Are you an innovative educator passionate about advancing student learning? Join Thea’s paid focus group and help shape the future of AI-powered education! We're looking for biology teachers to test our new educator mode, designed to provide personalized, adaptive learning experiences for your students. Thea’s platform offers unlimited practice problems, a teacher dashboard, and is available in 80+ languages—all completely FREE.

Earn $50/hour and make your voice heard! Limited spots available—sign up today!

Not interested in participating? No problem! You can still access Thea for FREE today and start enhancing your teaching experience.

Help Us Find the Next Leaders of NABT

We are looking for the next leaders of the National Association of Biology Teachers. The open positions for the 2025 election are listed below. Candidates for president-elect alternate between the pre-college, two-year college, and four-year college/university communities. 

Nominations from the 4-year college/university level are sought for president in this election.

The NABT Nominating Committee recommends that officer candidates have (1) evidence of active participation in NABT such as previous service as an elected officer, committee chairperson or member, section or affiliate leader, etc. (2) at least five years of continuous membership in NABT; and (3) more than five years experience teaching biology, life science, or science education. 

The positions available are listed below:

• President-Elect (3-year term)
• Secretary/Treasurer
• Director-at-Large (2-year term)
• Regional Coordinators (3-year term)
• Region I (CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT)
• Region III (IL, IN, MI, OH, WI)
• Region VII (AZ, AR, NM,OK, TX)

Don't hesitate to nominate yourself! No one knows your interests and qualifications as well as you do!

Nominations are being accepted until March 15th at https://nabt.org/About-Leadership-Opportunities

Announcing the Passing of Leonard Blessing

NABT is saddened to report that Leonard Blessing, a longtime member of our community, passed away on February 9, 2025.

Leonard was born in 1920 and graduated in 1939 from West Side High School in Newark, New Jersey. In 1940, he met Frances Meeker, resulting in a "72-year love story." Shortly after meeting Frances, Leonard joined the Army Air Corps and proudly served during World War II. After the war, Frances encouraged Leonard to use the newly created GI Bill to attend college. Upon graduating from Montclair State University in Montclair, New Jersey, and with Frances' unwavering support, Leonard started a remarkable career in biology teaching that has benefited countless students and thousands of educators.

In 1952, Leonard was hired to teach at Millburn High School in Millburn, NJ. He taught at Millburn for 35 years, serving as the science department chair and coaching the track team, basketball team, chess club, and contract bridge team. Even after retiring in 1987, Leonard continued to serve on numerous committees for the school.

Leonard developed a groundbreaking science program at Millburn High School that garnered local, national, and international accolades. In 1966, Leonard Blessing received the Outstanding Biology Teacher Award (OBTA) for New Jersey, only five years after NABT established the award. Leonard became a member of the National Association of Biology Teachers (NABT) and he continued to support NABT for the remainder of his life. Leonard was a friend and mentor to science teachers all over the world, and many NABT members in New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania can trace their connection to NABT through Leonard Blessing.

In 2022, NABT named Leonard Blessing the NABT Honorary Member, the association's highest award recognizing extraordinary service to promoting biology and life science education. Leonard continued to stay in touch with NABT leaders and staff for many years, and in October 2020, in recognition of Leonard's 100th birthday, generous NABT donors helped NABT send 100 copies of Sean Carroll's book, "A Series of Fortunate Events", to biology teachers around the United States.

Leonard was the consummate lifelong learner, and when asked at age 102 what his secret to long life was, Leonard replied, "There is no secret. No matter what the situation, I have chosen to be happy. Choosing to be happy is the key to a long life."

Leonard was an award-winning educator, author, poet, ambassador for science education, beloved husband and father, friend, and just an amazing human.

You can learn more about Leonard by reading his Celebration of Life at https://www.carolinamortuary.com/obituaries/leonard-blessing

Students & Educator Teams Invited to Enter NABT CESR Virtual Poster Competition

NABT is excited to host its 4th Annual Course-Embedded Student Research (CESR) Virtual Poster Competition. Designed to encourage and celebrate student research, this competition is open to all students engaged in CESR at high schools, two-year, and four-year institutions.

This is an excellent opportunity for students to gain valuable experience presenting their research, and the criteria are below: 

• Posters should effectively present a student-driven scientific research activity in any area of biological sciences. 
• Submissions must include a video of the poster presentation with a faculty/teacher mentor. The mentor must be an NABT member who is also listed as an author/presenter.
• The faculty/teacher mentor will introduce the course-embedded research topic, and the student(s) will then present their work on that topic. 
• Students and mentors are strongly encouraged to use the #betterposter format and review the guidelines and scoring rubric that will be released upon acceptance of the abstract.

Students who place 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in the CESR Competition will be awarded cash prizes of $200, $100, and $50, respectively. Please note: The prize will be split among all student presenters of a winning poster. The instructors will receive a complimentary year of membership to NABT.

You can learn more and view videos from previous winners at https://nabt.org/Events-CESR-Poster-Competition.

Abstracts will be submitted online at 4th CESR Poster Session and must be received by Monday, April 14, 2025. Accepted presenters must submit completed presentations by Friday, June 6, 2025 to enter the competition.