Meet the Team

Dr. Schpakow has degrees in Curriculum & Instruction, Geosciences, Marine Ecology, and Elementary Education. She serves as the Primary Investigator for the Monmouth University Climate Change Learning Collaborative and teaches science education courses at the graduate and undergraduate levels in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction. Before her career in higher education, Dr. Schpakow taught middle school science for 12 years. She also worked as a zookeeper, veterinary technician, blue crab hatchery intern, and field instructor for the New Jersey Marine Sciences Consortium. She is an Ocean County Master Composter and serves on the Monmouth University Sustainability Advisory Council. Dr. Schpakow chaired Sustainability Education Week for several years, delivering sustainability-focused professional development to teachers. Her forthcoming edited volume Wicked Problems in PK-12 Science Education: Stories and Strategies for Tackling Complex Socio-Scientific Issues continues to support teachers as they grapple with complex problems such as climate change.

Dr. Duckett is an entomologist by training. After a brief postdoctoral stint in Japan, she began an eight-year sojourn in Puerto Rico where she taught introductory biology, zoology, and entomology. In 2002, she took an NSF fellowship researching the evolution and taxonomy of flea beetles, Chrysomelidae, a position split between Rutgers and Smithsonian. Afterwards, she became involved in academic administration and fundraising, most recently as a consultant. However, she also served as Associate Director of the Office of Promotion of Women in Science, Engineering and Mathematics and Program Manager at Ocean Biogeographic Information System, both at Rutgers.

At the School of Science, Dr. Duckett enjoys serving as Director of the Pre-Health Advising Committee, working with the Dean on our fundraising and publicity, and working with the faculty on improving professional development opportunities for faculty and students. She is especially passionate about climate change education, as an organizer of the Climate Crisis Teach-in and in her work for the Climate Change Learning Collaborative.

Dr. Zambak is the Department Chair and an Associate Professor of Mathematics Education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction. He directs the mathematics programs and is the program director of Interdisciplinary Studies for Elementary Educators. Prior to joining Monmouth, Dr. Zambak taught secondary mathematics in private and public high schools in Istanbul, Turkey, and in the Netherlands. His research interests center around STEM teachers’ professional noticing, argumentation skills, content learning with technology, and interdisciplinary teaching abilities. Since March 2024, he has been serving on the team in support of Interdisciplinary Instruction within the Climate Change Learning Collaborative.

Dr. Jiwon Kim is an Associate Professor in Curriculum and Instruction teaching social studies and interdisciplinary education with a focus on global issues and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. As a former faculty representative to the UN, Dr. Kim co-convened at the Sustainability in Teaching and Research (STAR) International Symposium and Sustainability Education Week Conference, teaching how to design interdisciplinary units on sustainability through university courses, NJ state and international workshops, and her recently published book Interdisciplinary Teaching and Teacher Education: Developing Teacher Competencies for Interdisciplinary Instruction (2024) as well as an upcoming book Advancing Sustainability Through Teaching and Research: A Multidisciplinary Approach.

Dr. Tom Herrington is the associate director of the Urban Coast Institute at Monmouth University and serves as the New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium Resilient Communities and Economies Specialist. Dr. Herrington has 30 years of experience in coastal resilience and hazard mitigation research. Prior to joining Monmouth, Dr. Herrington was the director of the ocean engineering graduate program at Stevens Institute of Technology and the director of the New Jersey Coastal Protection Technical Assistance Service. He holds a BE in Civil Engineering and a MS and Ph. D. in Ocean Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology.