Melissa Emery

Melissa Emery

Melissa (Mel) Emery, a veteran of the U.S. Air Force, changed career paths after medically retiring from the service. A subsequent job of advising transfer students at San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton Calif., inspired Mel to go back to school. She selected MSU to complete her bachelor’s degree and eventually switched majors to chemistry (teaching option) after completing general chemistry with Dr. Bill McLaughlin. A first generation college student from Georgetown, Calif., Mel applied for and received the Ronald E McNair Scholarship — McNair was a NASA mission specialist who lost his life when the space shuttle Challenger exploded in 1986. The program targets students who are interested in research and scholarly activities and who are identified as underrepresented in graduate school (www.montana.edu/mcnair). Mel’s stipend from the McNair program allows her to research with a mentor of choice within her major. It was no surprise that she teamed up with Dr. Bill McLaughlin this summer to implement components of the TEAL (Technology Enhanced Active Learning) classroom in the CHMY 143 course. The TEAL sessions for CHMY 143 incorporate group inquiry activities so that students work together in a social setting to solve in-class problems. TEAL classrooms promote a shift in focus from traditional methods of teaching to learning environments that may parallel real life situations. Mel is currently a junior and desires to complete her student teaching, oversees. She would like to obtain a PhD and then become a university professor. Mel lives with her husband Thomas and their 3-year old daughter Molly. We are grateful to her service and dedication to our country and we are inspired by her passion for teaching and learning.