{"id":28249,"date":"2017-03-02T14:23:13","date_gmt":"2017-03-02T19:23:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom2\/2017\/03\/02\/shes-a-natural-at-teaching-natural-sciences\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T17:05:46","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T21:05:46","slug":"shes-a-natural-at-teaching-natural-sciences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2017\/03\/02\/shes-a-natural-at-teaching-natural-sciences\/","title":{"rendered":"She&#8217;s a Natural at Teaching Natural Sciences"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/media-old\/2017\/03\/Emily.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-15233\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/media-old\/2017\/03\/Emily-300x163.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"163\" \/><\/a>By the time Professor Emily Gonz\u00e1lez has finished applying cell structure to students\u2019 lives, they are as interested in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.necc.mass.edu\/academics\/courses-programs\/areas\/science\/liberal-arts-physical-science\/courses\/\">natural science<\/a>\u00a0as she is.<\/p>\n<p>Gonz\u00e1lez knows how to take heady subjects and make them relatable.<\/p>\n<p>For example, defects in a cell\u2019s structure can cause diseases like diabetes, cystic fibrosis and high blood cholesterol. This gets the students\u2019 attention, she says, because invariably someone in the class knows someone with a disease and leads to spirited discussions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m excited to impart to my students concepts that are interesting and are applicable to their lives and careers,\u201d she says. \u201cI am excited when my students make the connections between concepts and their eyes light up in a Eureka moment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Jamaican native has been teaching physiological chemistry, anatomy and physiology, human health and nutrition, and human biology at Northern Essex for the last 13 years. She has also been instrumental in developing a new <a href=\"https:\/\/www.necc.mass.edu\/ihealth\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2016\/09\/iHealth-Clinical-Research-coordinator-POD.pdf\">clinical research coordinator certificate<\/a>\u00a0 program to fill an industry void.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs we continue to move toward a knowledge-based economy we will need an increasingly larger number of scientifically trained work force to remain economically competitive,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<p>And what better place to train for scientifically-focused jobs than at Northern Essex. To support this sentiment, Gonz\u00e1lez cites data from the National Science Foundation\u2019s National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics which shows that 49* of those who received a bachelor\u2019s degree in science and engineering completed some of the their courses at a community college.<\/p>\n<p>Gonz\u00e1lez herself attended Barbados Community College where she earned an associate of science degree in natural science. She went on to attend UMass-Lowell where she received a bachelor of science in biological science and to UMass-Amherst where she received a master of science in microbiology with a focus on plant pathology.<\/p>\n<p>Gonz\u00e1lez said she was drawn to science out of sheer curiosity and a father who encouraged a love of scientific study.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI like to know the underlying reasons why organisms work the way they do and one must have a sound foundation in physics and chemistry as well as biological concepts,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>On a regular basis Gonz\u00e1lez says continues to be wowed by science.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe understanding of cell structure and metabolism continues to evolve with the help of new technologies,\u201d she said. \u201cThe applications of natural science is so vast and varied it leaves one in awe of its potential use.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Each student, she says, is different in terms of what excites them about a subject. By applying it to their field of study or everyday life is the key to engaging them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By the time Professor Emily Gonz\u00e1lez has finished applying cell structure to students\u2019 lives, they are as interested in natural science\u00a0as she is. Gonz\u00e1lez knows how to take heady subjects [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":28251,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archive"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>She&#039;s a Natural at Teaching Natural Sciences - NECC News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2017\/03\/02\/shes-a-natural-at-teaching-natural-sciences\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"She&#039;s a Natural at Teaching Natural Sciences - NECC News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By the time Professor Emily Gonz\u00e1lez has finished applying cell structure to students\u2019 lives, they are as interested in natural science\u00a0as she is. 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