Cheryl Mason

I spent the majority of my earlier youth in northern Indiana, approximately 20 minutes from Chicago , Illinois . My informal interests include a variety of sports, reading, and science exploration focused on hiking and camping expeditions. My work experiences include serving as an assistant to an ophthalmologist, chemist at United States Steel, secondary teacher and university professor. Most recently, I am more involved in national and international consultancies. As an aside, I have conducted workshops for university professors in China and Thailand . The experiences of being in the minority were exacting. Despite the challenging environments, especially in China , I thoroughly enjoyed the people, and came to realize just how much we take for granted in this country. Survival in different cultures was very different from taking the requisite language courses as part of the university requirements. Learning Mandarin and other languages opened up my world, serving as an enabling factor in my communication with others in our global society. Along with a colleague, I conducted workshops in Dalian, China. Participants were professors of biological sciences from various provinces in China. In the beginning, an interpreter was used to communicate with the participants. Below is a picture of the group working together. I also held meetings with science education professors, along with representatives of Thailand`s Science Teachers Association (IPST). I became a part of this collaboration due to the fact that my main liaison in Thailand is a former graduate student at Purdue University where she was an Assistant Professor.