ABE Massachusetts Team

Program Site Director

Jared R. Auclair, PhD is the Program Site Director for ABE Massachusetts. Dr. Auclair is currently the Vice Provost Research Economic Development and Director of Bioinnovation in the Office of the Provost at Northeastern University. As Vice Provost Research Economic Development, Dr. Auclair works to strengthen the bonds between our education and research missions by strengthening the integration of work-integrated credentialed learning and use-inspired research, co-creating with communities and partners while expanding our global mindset. As Director of Bioinnovation, Dr. Auclair works to leverage important University activities around biotechnology, bringing together experts from a wide range of disciplines and backgrounds to advance the expansion of Northeastern life sciences programs. In addition to these roles, Dr. Auclair holds a faculty appointment in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology where he collaborates with academic researchers, industry and government in the area of biopharmaceutical development and analysis.

Program Site Coordinator, Lab Technician

Lauren Resnick, MEd, is the Site Coordinator for ABE Massachusetts, and lab technician at our new distribution site at Northeastern University Burlington Innovation Campus. Lauren has a long history in science education, having had the privilege to serve as high school Biology/Biotechnology teacher at Revere High School for the last decade. As an educator in Revere, she has been able to work with diverse students and communities, focusing on equitable practices that increase access to effective STEM education. ABE Massachusetts has been a great partner in helping to support those goals. Lauren also has experience in biotechnology research, completing her dissertation at University of Massachusetts Amherst in Ana Caicedo's Plant Genomics Lab and, more recently, as a teacher partner at Whitehead Institute in Mary Gehring's lab on methylation and its role in seed development. In her work as site coordinator, she hopes to help support educators and students across MA in accessing authentic research experiences, as well as providing a bridge to post-secondary opportunities and biotech industry partners. Lauren currently lives (and was raised in) in Revere, Massachusetts, a 10-minute train ride from the heart of Boston. If you are ever in her neck of the woods, she recommends calling her up for some Peters Woo's crab rangoons, or Monte Cristo Cafe's amazing pupusas!

Professional Development Manager

Dr. Kelly J. Conn is a Teaching Professor within the Graduate School of Education at Northeastern University (NU). Dr. Conn earned her BS in Cell Biology at the University of Kansas and her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Boston University School of Medicine. After completing post-doctoral training in Neuroscience, Dr. Conn ran a Parkinson’s research laboratory for several years as an Assistant Research Professor at Boston University. Dr. Conn joined Northeastern University in 2010 where she works to support STEM education through her work within the Doctor of Education program and Northeastern University’s Network for Experiential Teaching and Learning—NExT. Most recently, Dr. Conn has designed and oversees the curriculum for a Graduate Certificate in Experiential Teaching and Learning and serves as Faculty Lead of the Learning and Instruction MEd program. Dr. Conn also teaches in the College of Science at NU and is an instructor of the Intro to Science course at the MassBioEd Foundation.