RabbitMath is a secondary school curriculum development project of Peter Taylor of Queen’s University and Chris Suurtamm of the University of Ottawa. It is the ongoing creation of the hard work and the enthusiasm of a dedicated group of graduate and undergraduate students and classroom teachers.
Active RabbitMath Members
Peter Taylor
Peter is the chief architect of RabbitMath. He is a Mathematics Prof at Queen’s University, cross-appointed to Biology and Education. For most of his career he worked building evolutionary models of social behaviour, but his creative efforts are now focused on building a new kind of mathematics curriculum. He is a 3M Fellow, and a Fellow of both the Fields Institute and the Canadian Mathematical Society. He has taught two semesters in high school and done considerable curriculum writing with the Ontario Ministry.
Mike Cabral
Mike studied mathematics and philosophy at Queen’s. He then taught English as a second language for two years in South Korea, before returning to Queen’s first for a Master’s degree and then a doctorate in mathematical biology. In the past few years Mike has been the instructor for our 3rd-year game theory course and for our Linear Algebra course for Engineers. Mike is the math camp director for the Department, and that includes RabbitMath, as well as Math Quest, our summer camp for high school girls.
Rebecca Carter
Becca completed an undergraduate degree in Mathematics at Queen’s University and a Masters degree in Mathematics at King’s College London. She is now a PhD student at Queen’s University with research interests in Math Education. When not at Queens, Becca enjoys canoe tripping and working with students to help foster positive mathematics experiences.
Julia McClellan
Julia has an undergraduate degree in Mathematics from the University of Toronto, and an MSc in Mathematics at Queen’s. She is currently a PhD student at Queen’s studying Algebraic Geometry. Outside of her studies, she enjoys playing volleyball and baking for her friends and family. Julia realized her passion for sharing mathematics with others through tutoring and teaching assistantships in a variety of high school and university mathematics courses.
Ami Mamolo
Ami is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education, and Associate Member in Computer Science, at Ontario Tech University. She is also co-Director of the Centre for Mathematics Education at the Fields Institute for Research in Mathematical Sciences, and founder of the ThinkMath.ca network for research-informed teaching. Her research explores how non-routine and multi-modal approaches to teaching and learning can be networked to encourage conceptual growth and meaningful engagement with mathematics.
Ann Arden
For more than 25 years Ann has been a math teacher, department head and instructional coach with the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, and is now Principal at Osgoode Township HS. She has always enjoyed the intersection of art and mathematics and was fortunate to take Peter's math and poetry course during her undergraduate studies at Queen's. Later she completed an MA in Education at the University of Ottawa, focused on classroom assessment under the supervision of Chris Suurtamm. She is passionate about engaging with students and teachers in rich mathematics, and thinking about "teacher moves" that can expand the possibilities for learning and enjoying mathematics.
Rachel Bearse
Rachel is a math teacher at Kingston SS who values collaboration, challenge and productive struggle. She hopes to inspire teachers and students to approach math in a playful way. She blogs about her journey at bearsemath.com.
Resource Community
Siobhain Broekhoven
Siobhain is a Mathematics, Physics and Special Education teacher with Algonquin Lakeshore CDSB. While doing her physics undergrad at Queen’s she started playing with radio waves and that led to her work with CFRC, producing many radio shows highlighting math education, exceptional learners and social justice, and these remain her current interests.
George Gadanidis
George is a Professor of Mathematics Education at Western University and is internationally known for his work incorporating ideas of coding into the mathematics curriculum. He works at the elementary school level (Grades 4-8) and spends 50-60 days each year in school classrooms, collaborating with teachers to design cool ways of engaging young children with big math ideas. His professional domain is wide-ranging covering mathematics, technology and the arts.
Skye P. Griffith
Skye is the resident artist and musician at RabbitMath. She is now freshly hired Assistant Professor (Teaching Stream) for the Department of Statistical Sciences at the University of Toronto. After completing an undergraduate degree in mathematics and a Master's degree in statistics, she is now finishing up a PhD in statistics at Queen's University while she begins her new position in the big city. Skye began tutoring in high school, and her enthusiasm for math/stats education continued to blossom once she was thrown into a post-secondary landscape. A believer in the Art of Mathematics, her aspiration is to illuminate the beauty of mathematics for all to see.
Stefanie Knebel
Stefanie was one of the RabbitMath founders. Following a Psychology degree in 2011, she spent a year as coordinator for an early cognitive development lab and then worked as a lab assistant in the department of psychiatry at Queen's. Following her passion for research, she completed an MSc in Mathematics at Queen's and began a doctorate in control theory and neuroscience. She has a knack for programming, is interested in patterns of human behaviour, and enjoys exploring neat ways to visualize mathematical concepts.
Brynja Kohler
After a few years teaching high school math in Los Angeles and NYC, Brynja earned her doctorate at the University of Utah, researching and developing mathematical models of biological systems. She is now a math prof at Utah State University and director of math education programs and outreach. She conducts field-based courses for preservice teachers and professional development for inservice teachers. She also continues her research in mathematical biology.
Marnie Landon
Marnie has over 20 years of experience in software development as a product and project manager, business analyst, programmer, UX/UI designer, and software evaluator. Her work has focused on innovation, and design of high-impact software solutions that capitalize on the strategic opportunities introduced by emerging technologies, particularly Artificial Intelligence (AI). She is a speaker on AI with respect to the future of work and the impact on education and society. She is interested in cognitive science, learning science, and pedagogy at the intersection of mathematics and computer science. Her goal is to contribute to the design of experiences that prepare students for an increasingly complex world. A long time ago she was a student in Peter’s first-year calculus class.
Miroslav Lovric
Miro is a Mathematics Professor at McMaster. With researchers and graduate students from McMaster Health Sciences he has been modelling the development of allergic asthma and severity of allergic reaction to peanuts in children. His math education research involves the study of the secondary-tertiary transition and the role of computer programming. He is interested in connections between mathematics, art and architecture. A paper he enjoyed working on studies the symmetries of mosaics in Alhambra palace in Granada, Spain.
Nick Nielsen
Nick completed his degree in Physiology and his BEd at UofT. His work with Peter Harrison in his first year of teaching for the TDSB fostered his interest in developing a new kind of teaching materials and led to curriculum and textbook writing in mathematics. Teaching Math Chemistry and Physics in a small alternative high school for 25 years has inspired his creativity with course design, including the development with an art teacher of an interdisciplinary course on the art of math.
Nathalie Sinclair
Nathalie is a Professor in the Faculty of Education, an Associate Member in the Department of Mathematics and Canada Research Chair in Tangible Mathematics Learning at Simon Fraser University. She is also the editor of Digital Experiences in Mathematics Education. Her main areas of research stem from her interests in aesthetics and embodiment, which has found recent focus in the teaching and learning of geometry at the primary school level, particularly with dynamic geometry software. She is the author of a number of books on this subject.
David Stocks
David recently retired from a 20-year career as a Math and Science teacher at KCVI in Kingston serving as Coordinator of the IB program and Math Curriculum Consultant for the Limestone Board. Over the years, his math classes have provided the testing ground for many innovative class projects and teaching experiences including an entire grade 12 semester in 1997 with Peter Taylor and his then PhD student Nathalie Sinclair, in preparation for the rewriting of the Ontario Secondary Math Curriculum.
Chris Suurtamm
Chris was one of the RabbitMath founders. She is Professor Emerita of Mathematics Education at the University of Ottawa. Her work examines the complexity of mathematics teacher practice, particularly for inquiry-teaching and formative assessment. Her early career work as mathematics teacher, department head and textbook author also gave her a key understanding of the challenges and potentials of the math curriculum and classroom.
Regan Worsley
Regan is a Queen’s Concurrent Education graduate who majored in Mathematics. During her time at Queen’s, she focused on STEM education and how to teach using an interdisciplinary approach. She has always been interested in non-traditional teaching methods which place students at the center of lessons. Regan currently updates the RabbitMath website and is a full time Year 8 & 9 teacher at an English school in Sweden. Furthermore, Regan will be teaching the Cambridge Math curriculum after school to students.
Ezri Wyman
Ezri is a physics and English student and researcher at Queen's University. She has always loved math and science and has spent most of her life involved in art and science programs at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. She is a writer, illustrator, juggler, math tutor, and aspiring math and science writer with a passion for making math accessible and enjoyable to everyone. She enjoys finding the math and the art in every day and sharing her passion for both.