Faculty/Staff
Teach@Mines is housed in the University Honors and Scholars program.

Wendy Adams
Research Professor of Physics
Teach@Mines Director
CoorsTek 307
Phone: 303-273-3068
Email: wkadams@mines.edu

Allie Bolter
Teach@Mines Program Coordinator
CoorsTek 307
Email: ambolter@mines.edu

Katie Cooper
Teach@Mines Teacher In Residence
CoorsTek 216
Email: kacooper@mines.edu
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Adams is the Get the Facts Out PI. In this role she manages the project and directs all research and development activities. She is also the Director of Teach@Mines at the Colorado School of Mines, an APS Fellow, and co-recipient of the 2018 American Physical Society Excellence in Physics Education Award. A Physics Education Researcher by training, she earned her PhD. from the University of Colorado, Boulder in 2007 under the guidance of Dr. Carl Wieman. Adams’ research focuses on formative assessment, curriculum design, and perceptions of the teaching profession. She is the author of the CLASS, which measures students’ perceptions of physics and how to learn physics; has done extensive work on problem solving evaluation; developed the interface design guidelines for the PhET Interactive Simulations; designed and developed several curricula including the Explore Sound project – K-14 materials for acoustics; and has most recently developed the suite of Get the Facts Out resources including the PTaP and PTaP.HE instruments (Perceptions of Teaching as a Profession) for students and for faculty in Higher Education, respectively.
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Allie is Project Support Personnel for the Teach@Mines program and Get the Facts Out, he National Science Foundation project. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Dietetics from the University of Northern Colorado in 2014 and joined Mines after a slight career change in 2018. Allie spends her work time planning GFO/T@M meetings and events, supporting the GFO Champions and staff, supporting the Teach@Mines students, program graduates, staff, and much more. She spends her free time attending concerts, fishing or snowboarding in the mountains, and soaking up family time with her husband and little stud muffin, Ryder.
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My name is Katie Cooper and I’m thrilled to be a part of the Teach@Mines team! As a kid, I found people’s behavior to be fascinating and, at times, quite confusing. I was intrigued by the differences in how friends thought about things in life and interacted with each other. These and other curiosities about people led me to a psychology degree at The University of Texas, where I went from participating in some fun social experiments on campus in order to see the power of social modeling to cheering on the Longhorn football team with friends. While in college, I explored the external, social influences of human behavior as well as the internal, biological influences including a deep dive in evolutionary psychology. During this time, I started working with students with Autism Spectrum Disorder, which inspired increasing interests in cognitive development and learning. I then completed a postbaccalaureate internship at UCLA’s Lovaas Institute for Early Intervention. And shortly thereafter, I studied executive functioning skills while earning a Master’s degree in Human Neuropsychology and then studied social-cognitive development while earning a Doctorate degree in Educational Psychology.
Over the past 25 years, I’ve been incredibly fortunate to work in and consult with schools near and far including in Nigeria and Panama and along the way, I have first-hand experience with how challenging it truly is to teach based on the science of learning without losing sight of the psychology of learners. I’m grateful because every day I get to learn from students, educators, principals, paraeducators, parents, and school-based mental health providers.
While I value a “work-life” balance, I definitely don’t model it. But some of my favorite things to do are to cheer for my teenage son during his basketball games and cross-country meets, watch my elementary-age daughter complete another gymnastic feat, or run on the trail near my house in Denver. We are a family that loves to travel so please share your travel recommendations with me!

ELIAS EULER
Teach@Mines Advisor
CoorsTek 216
Email: eeuler@mines.edu

Stephan Graham
Teach@Mines Teacher In Residence
CoorsTek 216
Email: sgraham@arrupemail.org

Lucy Grande
Teach@Mines Advisor
CoorsTek 216
Email:luciagrande@mines.edu

Matthew Leach
Teach@Mines Teacher in Residence
CoorsTek 216
Email: mpleach@mines.edu
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Elias Euler is a Research Associate at the Colorado School of Mines, involved in both the GFO project and Teach@Mines. A Colorado native, Elias holds a bachelor’s degree in physics with minors in chemistry and mathematics from the University of Colorado Boulder and received his Ph.D. in physics from Uppsala University in Sweden with specialization in physics education research. He joined the GFO project in 2022 after a postdoc in physics education research at Lund University. Alongside his efforts with GFO, Elias’ research often centers on examining how students engage with physics content in embodied, technologically supported ways.
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My name is Stephan Graham, a material-science engineer turned chemistry and physics teacher. After receiving my B.S. and M.S. in material-science engineering at Rutgers and Penn State University, respectively, I worked at Corning, Incorporated for nearly five years as a process engineer in the photochromic glass and ceramic catalytic converter industries.
More jazzed about local high-school visits I made to talk to students about material science, I knew where my heart and motivation were. Over twenty years and counting, and I am still a chemistry and physics teacher in urban America. As a Latino, my passion for working in urban America derives from the recognition that other Latinos and non-whites make up a growing segment of the US population, yet they are the least likely to graduate from college, and even less likely to enter fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Outside of the classroom you might find me teaching snowboarding at Vail Mountain, flying down single-track trails on my mountain bike, playing (read: destroying) pickleball with Dr. Callan or walking the Camino de Santiago in Spain!
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I am a recent graduate of Colorado School of Mines with a B.S. in Computer Science and a minor in public affairs. I am currently working for Teach@Mines and Get The Facts Out doing research & data analysis. While I haven’t gotten my teaching license yet, I am hoping to soon! Outside of education & teaching, my passions include cooking, painting, rafting & spending time outdoors.
Teaching has always been an important aspect of my life – my mother is an educator, and all of my jobs growing up revolved around children & students. Throughout my time at Mines I worked as an instructor and curriculum developer for DECTech, a STEM outreach program for girls in grades 3-12 run through the Computer Science department. I was also a teaching assistant for the department. Both of those jobs showed me just how important STEM education can be – and how important it is to have amazing, qualified teachers that care about their students.
I discovered Teach@Mines in my Junior year. The courses I took not only helped me become a better teacher, they provided a deeper understanding of education and learning that helped me become a better student. I am so excited to continue on the path of becoming a teacher, and being able to continue to inspire young minds in STEM.
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Matt Leach has had a passion for physics education since he was in high school. From tutoring in HS and college, to teaching in California, Colorado and South Carolina, Matt has always strived to strengthen the knowledge and understanding of physics with his students. Since settling in Castle Rock and building his roots deep, Matt is heavily engaged in the physics education community in the Front Range. Leading and participating in groups like DAPT (Denver Area Physics Teachers), AAPT (American Association of Physics Teachers), QuarkNet and more, Matt is always on the hunt for fun and engaging lessons, activities and labs for his physics students. When not discussing/teaching physics education, you can find him on the ski slopes in the winter and biking and hiking in the mountains in the summer.