Jennifer Barson holds an AAS from Pierce Community College, a BS in geology from Central Washington University, and an MS in hydrogeology from the University of Nevada. She has been teaching geology at SFCC since 2006. Barson’s broad background in earth science includes physical geology, historical geology and hydrogeology. She has been involved in the Science Olympiad and Expanding Your Horizons, a Girl Scouts program that increases young women’s interest in science. She also visits K-8 schools to bring science experiences to classrooms, in addition to hosting lab activities for visiting schools.

Adriana began her higher education studies as a non-traditional community college student. A love of nature and curiosity about natural phenomena led her to obtain a BS with a double major in Chemistry and Biology, followed by an MS in Chemistry from the University of Houston, Clear Lake. She continued her studies with one year of graduate level biology and toxicology classes at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. Adriana completed an internship with Exxon at their Polymer Research Center and worked for Krug Life Sciences, a contractor for Johnson Space Center in Houston. To explore a career in education, she began teaching at night at community college and enjoyed it so much she decided to seek a full-time teaching job. Adriana has been teaching chemistry at SFCC since the fall 1998 and has loved every year since.

Originally from Sweden, Asa came to the United States as a high school exchange student and quickly fell in love with ranch dressing and TV crime dramas, two additions she unfortunately still struggles with. She continued her academic career by earning a BS in Physics, minor in Math, from Sam Houston State University and an MS in Medical Physics from University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus. She also holds a certificate of Technical Communications from the University of California, Santa Cruz and an MFA in Creative Writing from Eastern Washington University. Before she became a full-time professor, Asa worked in the San Francisco Bay Area IT industry for many years. Asa is passionate about mentoring students and increasing the enrollment of underrepresented populations in STEM classes.

Dr. Gates received her BS in Biochemistry and minored in Chemistry and the University of Washington. She received a doctorate in Chemistry at the University of Oregon where she focused on the auto-regulation of MBNL1 pre-mRNA in myotonic dystrophy.

Michele began her career at SFCC as a student where her love of math and science was fostered and encouraged. After completing her AA here, she transferred to EWU to finish her BS in Physics. She attended WSU Pullman for the following four years where she completed both her MS in Physics and her PhD in Materials Science and Engineering working on an interdisciplinary project that included neuroscience and exploration of light. While in graduate school, the new Science building and Planetarium were completed and she worked with her mentor and colleague, John Whitmer, to create an extensive planetarium outreach program.

Michele works with our Phi Theta Kappa students on campus as the faculty advisor for Beta Gamma Kappa and currently acts as our Guided Pathways/Advising coordinator on campus. She enjoys connecting with students on every level and wants to share her excitement of science with people. She knows that math and science can be particularly challenging but wants all students to know that they CAN find math and science success at SFCC!

Joanna’s Greek, born and raised in the beautiful Mediterranean island of Cyprus. She was one of twenty females to attend the boys Science High school on the whole island (girls at the time were not supposed to study science). There she studied math, chemistry, and physics. Since childhood she collected rocks. Immediately she got interested in the chemistry of rocks, and that made her a chemist. She got her BSc of science in chemistry and her M.S. in organic chemistry at the amazing American University of Beirut Lebanon. She got her Ph.D. in organic chemistry at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque N.M. She completed two post-doctoral appointments: the first, in drug design (specifically cancer drugs) at Claremont Colleges, California and the second in Toxicology at Lovelace Inhalation and Toxicology Institute in Albuquerque N.M. She’s very passionate about teaching, sharing her knowledge, and is here to help you succeed and achieve your goals. The biggest award for Joanna is when she receives letters from her students thanking her for being very influential to their success as doctors, pharmacists, engineers, nurses….and the list goes on.

John has been fascinated with astronomy since early childhood and decided to pursue it as a career after already earning a BS in Forestry from the University of Idaho. After going back to school at the University of Washington for a BS in Astronomy and in Physics, he earned a MS in Astronomy from San Diego State University. He has been teaching at SFCC since 1998, and particularly enjoys introducing people to the wonders of this beautiful universe we find ourselves in. When not teaching or giving shows in the planetarium, he enjoys spending time in the outdoors – especially hiking in the mountains.