Principal Investigator

Dr. Grimes is a Research Associate Professor in the Center for Marine & Environmental Studies at the University of the Virgin Islands. Her research examines human impacts to nearshore environments, especially mangroves.

At UVI, she teaches in the Masters of Marine & Environmental Science program, mentors students, and engages the community through outreach and education, running the Mangroves in the Classroom project and the territory-wide Great Mangrove Cleanups.

Dr. Grimes leads the NSF Includes SEAS Islands Alliance, a $10M National Science Foundation-funded network that supports students from middle school through to the workforce in the marine and environmental sciences from the USVI, Puerto Rico, and Guam. She is also the Director for the Virgin Islands Water Resources Research Institute, a network of 54 institutes across the US in partnership with the U.S. Geological Survey.

Co-Principal Investigator

Dr. McSween-Missole is an Assistant Professor of Biology at the University of the Virgin Islands. She serves as the Director of the Mentoring and Research Infrastructure Component in the Virgin Islands Institute for STEM Education Research and Practice funded by NSF EPSCOR.

Her current research focuses on characterization of institutional support structures at HBCUs that facilitate entry of STEM learners into the STEM workforce, and retention of STEM professionals in STEM career fields. Her service efforts focus on broadening early career faculty participation in STEM education, and promoting early career scholarship, productivity, and socialization into the academy and facilitating professional development training for undergraduate research trainees through the Emerging Caribbean Scientists Program. She also serves as co- PI on an NIH funded training and workforce development grant, Undergraduate Research Training Initiative for Student Enhancement (U-RISE).

External Evaluator

Dr. Peterman received her Ph.D. in psychology from Duke University in 2002, and has applied those skills to the field of STEM education and communication ever since. She started doing independent consulting work in 2007 and founded Karen Peterman Consulting, Co. (KPC) in 2010, with a focus on STEM education. KPC became Catalyst Consulting Group in 2022.

External Evaluator

Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Emily is passionate about program evaluation. With a master's degree in educational research and evaluation from the University of Puerto Rico and another in public policy evaluation from the University of Seville, she has honed her skills to improve programs and projects. Since 2023, Emily has contributed to Catalyst Consulting Group, where she collaborates on enhancing STEM environments in island communities like Guam, the US Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. She also advises private clients on business and technological optimization, driven by her commitment to data-driven strategies and innovation.