Schedule of Presentations for ISLAND 2025
In Collaboration with Tumble Media and the New Jersey Abacus Bee!
*All times listed in Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) (GMT/UTC -4)
Monday, September 22, 2025
Preconference Webinar
5:30 p.m. Zoom Room Opens
6:00 p.m. Learning to Listen: High School Science Teachers Learn from Blind and Low-Vision Students through a Case Library.
Presenters (Virtual): Dr. Mutiara Syifa and Dr. Natalie Shaheen, Illinois State University, Normal, Illinois.
6:30 p.m. LaTex: An Accessible Tool for STEM.
Presenter (Virtual): Dr. Peter Walters, Independence Science, West Lafayette, Indiana.
7:00 p.m. A Bibliometric and Descriptive Analysis of the Disciplinary Affiliations of Research about Students with Disabilities in College-Level Science Education.
Presenters (Virtual): Tongriang Daspan and Dr. Brandy Pleasants, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan.
7:30 p.m. Astronomy for Students with Blindness/Visual Impairments: Results from the STEM Career Exploration Lab Project.
Presenter (Virtual): Dr. Thomas Madura, San Jose State, San Jose, California.
8:00 p.m. – 8:15 p.m. Q and A (15 minutes)
Thursday, September 25, 2025
Tumble Media Event
4:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. Tumble Dinotastic Show at the Princeton Public Library, 65 Witherspoon Street, Princeton, NJ
Friday, September 26, 2025
Maeder Hall, Andlinger Center
92 Olden Street, Princeton, NJ 08540
ISLAND Conference: Day 1
8:15 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. Hot Breakfast for In-person Attendees
9:00 a.m. Welcome and Introduction
9:05 a.m. Accessible Outreach: Empowering Neurodivergent Scholars in STEM.
Presenter (In-person): Dr. Christin Monroe, Landmark College, Putney, Vermont.
9:35 a.m. – Making a Podcast with Kids: An Inclusive Tool for the Elementary STEM Classroom.
Presenters (In-person): Marshall Escamilla1, Lindsay, Patterson1, Sara Lenz2
1Tumble Media
2AUI, Washington, D.C.
10:05 a.m. Chemistry Library Research: Assessing Inclusivity Terminologies in Publication Databases.
Presenter (In-person): Emily Wild, Princeton University Library, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey.
10:35 a.m. Coffee Break (15 minutes)
10:50 a.m. AccessCORPS: A Scalable Approach to Enhancing Higher Education Accessibility and Research
Presenter (In-person): Dr. Bruce N. Walker, Isabella Martincic, Norah Sinclair, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia.
11:20 a.m. Building a Multidisciplinary Community: The Impact of Sonification World Chat and Geo SonNet.
Presenter (In-person): Kate Meredith, GLAS Education, Walworth, Wisconsin.
11:50 a.m. Inclusio: Find, Search, and Create Graphics You Can See, Touch, and Hear.
Presenter (In-person): Dr. Jenna Gorlewicz1, Amy Keith1, Seyoon Choi2
1Saint Louis University, St. Louis, Missouri.
2Consultant in Product Design and Evaluation, Inclusio.
12:20 p.m. Lunch (70 minutes)
1:00 p.m. Welcome Remarks
Shawn Maxam, Associate Provost for Institutional Diversity and Inclusion, Princeton University.
1:35 p.m. Round Table Discussion
Facilitators: Dr. Bruce Walker, Dr. Peter Walters, and Kate Meredith
2:30 p.m. Wolfram Syndrome.
Presenter (In-Person): Ellie White, Metro State University, Denver, Colorado.
3:00 p.m. Coffee Break (15 minutes)
3:15 p.m. Experiences of Blind in Science.
Presenter (In-person): Ashley Neybert, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon.
3:45 p.m. Preservice Elementary Teachers’ Science Identity and Conceptions of Disability.
Presenter (In-person): Tongriang Daspan and Dr. Brandy Pleasants, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan.
4:15 p.m. Beyond Sight, Borders, and Budgets: Tactile Quorum Coding Blocks for Inclusive STEM.
Presenter (In-person): Savaas Iqbal, Lila Alderete, and William Ellis, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.
4:45 p.m. Closing Remarks (15 minutes)
5:15 p.m. Reception (60 minutes)
6:15 p.m. – 7:15 p.m. Keynote Address by Dr. Lillian Rankel,
Princeton University Alum, Class of 1978.
STEM Starts with Toddlers: What We Can Learn from Building a STEM Learning Ecosystem for Blind/Low-Vision Children in Kenya
7:15 p.m. Q and A
7:30 p.m. Adjourn
7:45 p.m. Zoom Room Closes
Saturday, September 27, 2024
Andlinger Center for Energy and Environment
86 Olden Street, Princeton, NJ 08540
8:15 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. Breakfast and Welcome
9:00 a.m. Welcome
9:00 a.m – 10:30 a.m. Breakout Sessions 1: Teacher Workshops 1 and 2
10:45 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. Breakout Sessions 2: Teacher Workshops 1 and 2 (Alternate)
Teacher Workshop 1: Wiggly Worms: Tactile Polymer STEM for Blind Learners
Facilitator: Ashley Neybert, Independence Science.
Teacher Workshop 2: The Sounds of Science: Engaging the Blind in STEM with Inclusive Physics
Facilitator: Dr. Peter Walters, Independence Science.
12:00 Noon – 1:00 p.m. Lunch (60 minutes)
12:00 Noon: Lunch for Abacus Bee Participants
12:15 p.m. Lunch for ISLAND Workshop Participants and Abacus Bee Visitors
1:15 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. Tumble Live Presents: Sonic Saturday at Andlinger Center, 92 Olden Street, Princeton, NJ
2:00 p.m. – 7:15 p.m. 2025 Annual New Jersey Abacus Bee at ISLAND
The 2025 New Jersey Regional Competition of the American Printing House for the Blind (APH) Abacus Bee, coordinated by Dr. Monique Coleman, VISTAS Education Partners.
7:30 p.m. Conference Concludes