Karen Kortz has been teaching a variety of introductory geoscience classes at the Community College of Rhode Island for ten years and received the 2008 Biggs Award for Excellence in Earth Science Teaching. Karen received her Ph.D. from the University of Rhode Island, her M.S. from Brown University, and B.A. from Pomona College, all in geology. Her research interests include geoscience education research, and in particular, students' conceptions of rocks and plate tectonics and ways to reduce their misconceptions. Karen has led multiple workshops, both on national and local levels, on student misconceptions and teaching pedagogy.