Tess Killpack received her Ph.D. in Zoology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, her Master’s degree in Secondary Education from Loyola Marymount University, and her undergraduate degree in Biology and Spanish from Kalamazoo College. She is an animal physiological ecologist by training. In her doctoral work at the University of Wisconsin, she performed field and laboratory studies on songbird nestlings to examine the impacts of ecologically-relevant food restriction on growth, digestive physiology, and immune function during the developmental period. During her postdoctoral fellowship at Tufts University, she shifted gears to study microbiology and immunology, working with a team that was examining how mammals respond to Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacterium that causes Lyme Disease. Her current research focuses on how to create inclusive classroom environments and how to redesign courses to actively engage students and enhance their learning and self-confidence in doing science. At Salem State University, Tess teaches lecture and lab courses in Biology and she is also the coordinator of the Biology Secondary Education program.