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2026 NSTA Elections

 

Congratulations to the Nominees for the 2026 Election

Nominations for the NSTA Board of Directors and Leadership Council are now closed and the slate has been chosen. Thank you to everyone who applied and/or nominated a colleague. Ballots were sent to the membership on March 26, 2026. To participate in the election, be sure that your membership and email are current. If you did not receive a ballot, please email: nominations@nsta.org

 

The Nominations Committee is proud to present the following slate of candidates:

Board of Director Nominees

President-Elect
  • Dat Le
  • Michael J. Lowry
Three Board At-Large Directors

Each year, the Board identifies competencies and areas of expertise to strengthen leadership and reflect current strategic priorities. The following competencies reflect this year’s needs and do not establish requirements for future Board service:

At-Large Director - Communication & Advocacy Skills

  • Jeremy Scott Peacock
  • Omah M. Williams-Duncan

At-Large Director - Professional & Industry Experience 

  • David Conelias
  • Jesse Wren

At-Large Director - Technical & Professional Knowledge 

  • Beth Pesnell
  • John F. Loehr

Leadership Council Nominees

District Leader Nominees:
District I: Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island
  • Kathy Renfrew
District VI: North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee
  • Kelly Rhea Moore
  • Deanna Taylor
District VII: Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi
  • Cecelia Gillam
  • Tracey Zelden
District XII: Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin
  • Matthew Bulman
  • Nicole McRee
District XIII: New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas
  • Kenric Davies
  • Amy Tankersley
District XVIII: Canada
  • Charles (Chuck) Cohen
  • Samantha Ur
Division Leader Nominees:
Multicultural/Equity in Science Education
  • Anjana Iyer
  • Rochelle L. Darville
Preservice Teacher Preparation
  • Kevin Mason
  • Loraine Ramirez Villarin
Research in Science Education
  • Lara Smetana
  • Julianne A. Wenner
Eligible Offices for the 2027 NSTA Election
Board of Directors
Supporting Documents
Positions Available

Each year, the nominations committee will confer with the board to determine which areas of expertise are needed. This section will be updated when those areas have been determined.

This year, the Board is seeking to fill the following positions:

  • 2 Board At-Large Directors with the following competencies:
    • TBD
    • TBD
       
Leadership Council
Supporting Documents
Positions Available

Members who live and/or work in the following districts, to serve as District Leaders:

  • District II: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont
  • District IV: New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania
  • District VIII: Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia
  • District X: Indiana, Michigan, Ohio
  • District XIV: Arizona, Colorado, Utah
  • District XVI: California, Hawaii, Nevada, American Samoa, Guam, Territory of the Pacific Islands
     

Members from the following constituencies to serve as Division Leaders:

  • Early-Childhood – Elementary Education
  • Middle Level Science Education
  • Informal Science Education
  • Professional Learning in Science Education
     

NSTA's Governance Structure

The Board of Directors is composed of the three (3) NSTA Presidents and ten (10) directors elected by the membership. One Director shall be an early career educator within 5 years of their first position in an educational field. The majority of Directors will be practitioners in formal or informal institutions currently or within the last 5 years. Learn More

Guidelines & Responsibilities

President-Elect

The President-Elect has duties as outlined in the NSTA Bylaws, Article 5, Section 5.2, which include appointing chairpersons and NSTA representatives to conference committees (for all conferences occurring during their term as President) and participating in planning sessions for all such committees. Then as President, has duties as outlined in the NSTA Bylaws, Article 5, Section 5.1, which include serving as Chair of the Board of Directors and having general charge of the affairs of the Association. Finally, as President-Elect, has duties as outlined in the NSTA Bylaws, Article 5, Section 5.32, which include serving as needed in the absence of the President and President-Elect.

Directors

Directors shall supervise and oversee the business, property, and affairs of the Association as outlined in the NSTA Bylaws Article 3, section 3.1.

The Leadership Council is composed of the NSTA President; eighteen (18) District Leaders and ten (10) Division Leaders. The duties of the Leadership Council shall be to inform the Board of important external trends, opportunities, and threats; create and nurture communities at the state level and within professional interests; identify potential partnerships, create educational policy statements, chair regional and division committees, and foster relations with state chapters and affiliated groups. Learn More

Guidelines & Responsibilities

Division Leaders

Division Leaders serve on the Leadership Council and have duties, as outlined in the NSTA Bylaws, Article 8, Section 8.1., that include chairing a Division committee and working closely with Affiliates associated with their committee to identify opportunities for collaboration.

District Leaders

District Leaders build the NSTA community by actively promoting the benefits of the Association to ensure participation in programs, retention of existing members and aid in recruiting new members for the Association. Duties also include guiding the development of NSTA Position Statements and supporting Strategic Partnerships by building close ties to the state organizations in their District to identify opportunities for collaboration. (See position description)

Timeline

  

  

September 17

Web Seminar: Your Voice, Your Impact: NSTA Nominations Information Session

Nominations portal open to the membership to apply or nominate a colleague.

November 23

Last day to submit a completed application.

January 24 - February 20

Review your current membership profile. Update your address, and email to ensure you receive the ballot designated for your district by logging into your membership account.

March 26

Ballots sent to the current NSTA membership. You must be a member prior to March 20 in order to vote in the election. Nomination and Election Guidelines prohibit campaigning for all elections. The publication of each candidate's biographical data and position statement shall be the total extent to which Association members are informed about candidates for office. 

April 24

Final day to cast your ballot.

May 1

Election Results Announced unless there is a tie. In that event, results to be announced May 8th. 

Procedures for NSTA Election for Board of Directors

An outside independent contractor will e-mail ballots and biographical material, receive returned ballots, count and tally results, and report those results first to the chairperson of the NSTA Nominations Committee, and then to the NSTA Executive Director.

By vote of NSTA Membership, NSTA Bylaws will now allow the inclusion of electronic balloting procedures for the Board of Directors and Council elections.

The contractor will be responsible for assuring accuracy of data entry, shall retain all ballots until the election is certified by the Nominations Committee, and provide, with acceptable evidence, ballots to members who may not have received them due to e-mail or other problems. Using guidelines provided by the Nominations Committee, the contractor will be responsible for accepting or rejecting ballots, reporting on those and providing invalid ballots to the Nominations Committee following the election. The Nominations Committee then has the authority to make final decisions on such questionable ballots.

 

For More Information

Please contact the NSTA Nominations’ Program Liaison
703.312.9254 • nominations@nsta.org

  

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