Math & Science Faculty

Faculty Bio

Traci Johnson began teaching at Otero College in the Fall of 2021. She currently teaches College Algebra, Trigonometry, and Introduction to Statistics. Traci believes that her students succeed when they find a love of math. Math is a subject that students often do not like, but her courses are designed to counteract this with a positive environment and a safe place to ask questions. Traci is also an adjunct professor for Colorado University- Denver for their education program. She teaches Math for Elementary Teachers, Elementary Math Teaching I and II. She enjoys developing teaching candidates’ skills in math while allowing them to develop strategies that they will use in their future classrooms to help students gain a deeper understanding of math content.

Traci is originally from the Dallas/Fort Worth area where she grew up playing club soccer. She earned her B.A. in 2009 from Adams State University, in Alamosa Colorado and her M.S. from Colorado State University – Global in Teaching and Learning, with an emphasis in mathematics. Traci previously taught concurrent classes at La Junta High School for Otero College, and Lubbock High School for University of Texas.

In her free time, Traci enjoys traveling, running, cooking, and trying to keep up with her toddler.

Faculty Bio

Hello, my name is Brian Beyerl. I have been teaching mathematics at Otero College for the last four years. The courses I have taught are: Intermediate Algebra, Math for Clinical Calculation, Math for Liberal Arts, College Algebra, Statistics, Survey of Calculus, Calculus I, various support classes, and my favorite, Trigonometry.

I actually grew up in Rockford, Illinois. I attended Northern Illinois University and got my Bachelor’s Degree in Applied Mathematics and my Master’s Degree in Educational Mathematics as well as a minor in Chemistry. I then worked at various college campuses in the northern part of northern Illinois. In seeking out a full time position I wound up in La Junta and love teaching here.

Faculty Bio

Curriculum Vitae

Joel L. Gray, Ph. D.

Academic History:

Granted a BA degree from Colorado State College (now University of Northern Colorado), 1972 with a chemistry major. Enrolling in a graduate level Human Genetics course was not acceptable for declaration for a minor in biology.

Granted a MA degree from the University of Northern Colorado, 1974 with emphasis on Physical Chemistry.

The Graduate Committee accepted the original research thesis titled “The Kinetics of the Catalyzed Electron-Transfer Reaction Between Octacyanotunstate (IV) and Hexacyanoferrate (III) Ions” in 1974.

Granted a Ph. D. degree from Colorado State University, 1980 specialized in Physical Chemistry curriculum and research.

The Graduate Committee accepted the original research thesis titled “Ionic Interactions in the Liquid State” in 1980.

Publications:

Aluminum-27 Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Study of the Room-Temperature Melt AlCl₃/n-Bultylpyridinium Chloride, Journal of the American Chemical Society, 1981, 103, 7147. Joel L. Gray and Gary E. Maciel

Multinuclear Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Study of Ion Pairing and Solvation in the System Sodium Tetraethylaluminate/Tetrahydrofuran/m-Xylene, Journal of Physical Chemistry, 1983, 87, 5290-5299. Joel L. Gray and Gary E. Maciel

Multinuclear Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Study of Ion Pairing and Solvation in the System Sodium Tetraethylaluminate/Pyridine/m-Xylene, Journal of Physical Chemistry, 1983, 87, 5418-5421. Joel L. Gray and Gary E. Maciel

Employment History

Coors Brewing Company, 1978 to 1993, last title – Senior Research Associate

Front Range Community College – Spring semester 1994, Adjunct Chemistry Instructor

Otero College – beginning Fall semester 1994 through Spring 2017

Chemistry, Physics and Statistics Instructor
Math/Science Department Chair Fall 1999 through Spring 2016. Continued teaching a full course load or overload and occasionally required to teach remedial math courses.
Post retirement Adjunct Chemistry Instructor at Otero 2020 – 2023

Trinidad State Junior College, Adjunct Chemistry Instructor Fall 2021

Lamar Community College, Adjunct Chemistry Instructor Fall 2022

Current Research Interests for Undergraduate Students:

Instrumental development for Radio astronomy

Student involvement would include learning the basics of radio astronomy and calibration of the two antenna dishes. 2 hours per week

Volatile Organic Componds, VOC, in surface waters surrounding La Junta

Student involvement would include learning the basic operation of the gas chromatograph/mass spectroscope, GC/MS. Student(s) would assist in surface water collection and sample preparation for analysis by the GC/MS. 2 hours per week

Fourier Transform Infrared, FTIR, spectroscopic analysis of air born methane gas.

Student involvement would include learning the basic operation of the FTIR. Student(s) would assist in the collection of air samples and sample preparation for FTIR analysis. 2 hours per week

Investigations of the esters of creatine using a number of chemical techniques.

Faculty Bio

Mark Korbitz attended several colleges after high school and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from the State University of New York-Albany with majors in biology, psychology and education. Mark taught and coached as a K-12 instructor in small school districts in Colorado for over 17 years. He earned a Master of Science degree in Physical Geography in 2000 and subsequently worked in homeland security for a dozen years after 2001. During these years of service with the government, he attended the intelligence analysis school at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, earned a certificate in counterterrorism from St. Andrew’s University, Scotland, and traveled extensively, completing, then providing, trainings for first responders.

Previous research projects include field raptor biology, archaeological field surveys, risk analysis and communication. Mark’s interests since undergraduate school include astrophysics, early humans in North America, art, outdoor activities, paleontology, orthodox Christianity, and making stringed musical instruments. He now teaches earth and space science at Otero College in La Junta, Colorado. The focus of his current research is Mesozoic paleontology, prehistoric archaeology, musical instrument construction, as well as astronomy. He and his wife are the parents of four grown children and they have many grandchildren.

Academic Publications:

New Sphenodontian From Southeast Colorado Reveals the Unique Biota of the Upper Triassic Picketwire Canyonlands; Kligman, Korbitz, McClure, Schumacher

Eosauropus (sauropodomorph) trackway from the Chinle interval (Upper Triassic) of the Purgatoire River Valley, Southeastern Colorado; McClure, Lockley, Korbitz, Schumacher

A new global array of optical telescopes: The Falcon Telescope Network; Chun, Tippets, Grisham, Gray, Korbitz, et al

Resilience is for Research Designs Too: Funders, Researchers and Navigating Study Constraints (Book chapter); Malet, Korbitz

Public Risk Communications in Disaster Recovery: Results from a Biological Decontamination Experiment; Malet, Korbitz

Accountability between Experts and the Public in Times of Risk; Malet, Korbitz

Faculty Bio

Hello! My name is Warren McClure. For the last 13 years, I have been teaching biology classes at Otero. Courses I teach or have taught include General Biology 1 and 2, Microbiology, Anatomy and Physiology 1 and 2 and an occasional Ag or Chemistry class.

Teaching at Otero has been a homecoming of sorts. I grew up in Olney Springs and graduated from Crowley Count High School a long time ago. My undergraduate work was done at Fort Lewis College in Durango, CO, where I received a BS in Cellular and Molecular Biology. Fort Lewis is also where I was introduced to undergraduate research. While there, I studied the effects of exercise on mitochondrial gene expression. After graduating, I attended the University of Texas, Houston Medical School branch. There, I worked with Frank W. Booth, PhD (https://biomed.missouri.edu/frank-w-booth-phd/) and studied exercise induced and fiber type differential gene expression in skeletal muscle. After obtaining a MS in Integrative Biology at UT Houston, I worked as a research associate at AMC Cancer Research in Denver. Later, I took a lab manager position at CU-Denver working with Brian Tseng MD/PhD who is a leader in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy research. Eventually, I made my way to Otero in Fall of 2009.

Since arriving at Otero, I discovered that I truly enjoy teaching! In addition, I have discovered new research interests through projects carried out with student help.

The following are some of the projects that students have helped develop:

>Tracking wildlife using camera traps Ryan’s Ponds and at JE Canyon Ranch.

>Discovering and uncovering 210-million-year-old dinosaur tracks.

>Exploring fossilized remains of new species from the Triassic strata of JE Canyon ranch.

Selected publications:

Kligman, B., McClure, W., Korbitz, M., & Schumacher, B. (2021). New sphenodontian (Reptilia: Lepidosauria) from a novel Late Triassic paleobiota in western North America sheds light on the earliest radiation of herbivorous lepidosaurs. Journal of Paleontology, 95(4), 827-844. doi:10.1017/jpa.2021.22

McClure, W.C., Lockley, M., Schumacher, B.A., and Korbitz, M., 2021, An Eosauropus trackway with gait irregularities from the Chinle Group (Upper Triassic) of southeastern Colorado: New Mexico Museum of Natural History Bulletin, v. 82., p. 249–258

McClure WC, Rabon RE, Ogawa H, Tseng BS. Upregulation of the creatine synthetic pathway in skeletal muscles of mature mdx mice. Neuromuscul Disord. 2007;17(8):639-650. doi:10.1016/j.nmd.2007.04.008

Math & Science Faculty

Traci Johnson

Brian Beyerl

Caitlyn Dieckmann

Joel Gray, Ph. D.

Mark Korbitz

Warren McClure

Teyah Schiffer