Jennifer Hicks is the K-12 Science Program Manager, I-STEM Resource Network at Purdue University.  Previously she was the science curriculum specialist in the Office of Curriculum and Instruction for the Indiana Department of Education. Dr. Hicks was responsible for the managing the development of science standards, supporting curriculum resources for science, and promoting innovation in science teaching throughout Indiana. She is a lead team member for the Indiana Science Initiative, a K-8 systemic science initiative that has engaged 2,000 teachers and 125 schools in Indiana in research-developed science curriculum and professional development. Prior to joining the Department, Jenny was a high school teacher in California and received a Life Sciences Single Subject Credential from San Francisco State University. She also holds a Professional Educator’s License in the State of Indiana in Chemistry and Life Sciences. She has taught biology, chemistry, marine biology and earth sciences at the high school level. Prior to teaching high school, she was an NIH postdoctoral fellow in the Biology Department at Washington University in St. Louis, where she performed research on proteins in fruit flies. She has also taught science coursework at the college and graduate level at Webster University in St. Louis and at Indiana University in Bloomington. She received a B.S. in Biology and a Ph.D. in Visual Sciences from Indiana University.