UNL Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education assistant professor Beth Lewis has been appointed to the National Science Teachers Association's (NSTA) Committee for Preservice Science Teacher Education. Founded in 1944, the NSTA is the largest science teacher association in the world with 55,000 members. The committee meets annually at the national conference to review current policies and issues to support teacher education nationally. Lewis, who joined UNL in 2009, coordinates the 14-month Master of Arts with emphasis in science teaching (MAst) program and has been the principal investigator of UNL's $1.2 million National Science Foundation Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship grant since 2012. To date the grant has provided $12,000 scholarships to 49 teacher candidates with at least an undergraduate degrees in a field of science who have decided to become teachers. The MAst program's design is based on educational research findings on effective teaching practices for teaching diverse students and goes beyond minimum state requirements so that graduates of the program can meet the federal definition of a "highly-qualified" teacher. Lewis and her research team are also conducting a longitudinal study of teacher learning and change with graduates from the program and have made several presentations locally and nationally. Annually, UNL educates 20-25% of all teachers graduating from Nebraska institutes of higher education.