2008 THINK Professors

James Carr has taught Geological Engineering at the University of Nevada, Reno since 1984. He has spent time as a Materials Testing Lab Technician for S.E.A. Engineers in Sparks, Nevada and as a Staff Engineer for Woodward-Clyde Consultants in San Francisco. He served as City-Supervisor of the Washoe-Storey Conservation District from 2003-2006, and Editor of a number of Geology and Geoscience publications. Prof. Carr has won numerous  service, teaching and research awards. 

Michael Leverington has taught part-time at two community colleges for a total of about twenty years, been a flight instructor for about ten years, a high school teacher for seven years, a part-time university instructor for four years, and a summer advanced science program educator for two years. He enjoys teaching scientific and technical courses and programs. Michael’s passion is related to studying how people solve problems, particularly in the technical and scientific fields. He is now pursuing a Ph.D. in Education and a master’s degree in Computer Science so he can extend his knowledge in this arena. This will be Michael's second year teaching at THINK.


Monica Miller is an Assistant Professor with a split appointment between the Criminal Justice Department and the Interdisciplinary Ph.D. Program in Social Psychology at the University of Nevada, Reno. She is also an adjunct faculty at the Grant Sawyer Center for Justice Studies. Her interests include the investigation of factors that influence victim decision-making, how counterfactual thinking affects jury and victim decision-making, the evolving content of video games, how the criminal law has been used to regulate behaviors related to pregnancy and procreation, and jury decision-making in criminal and medical malpractices cases.


Professor Mark Pingle has been a member of the University of Nevada, Reno Department of Economics since 1990. He has published papers, books, and other writings in the areas of macroeconomics, behavioral economics, and experimental economics. He is currently the President Elect for the Society for the Advancement of Behavioral Economics. On the personal side, Professor Pingle grew up in a cattle ranching family in Southern Oregon, never thinking about being a professor of anything until his senior year in college. He plays piano, guitar, and bass, enjoys writing songs, and enjoys singing with his wife and three girls.


A Reno native who's been working in the educational field for over ten years, Darren Ripley enjoy outdoor activities with his wife Jen, also a Reno native, and his 2-year-old son August. He has taught math at all levels of secondary ed and all introductory levels of higher education, both at the community college and the university. This is his third year at the THINK Summer Institute; he also teaches at The Davidson Academy. His hobbies include, but aren't limited to, mountain and road biking, snowboarding, playing the piano, chess, and gardening. He also is presently working on a second master's degree in statistics and has started the Ph.D. program. He teaches mathematics because it is the language of science, and feels that science will save the world.

An Associate Professor of Organic Chemistry at the University of Nevada, Reno, Charles Rose earned his B.S. in 1960 and M.A. in 1963 from Brigham Young University; he earned his Ph.D. in 1966 from Harvard University (R. B. Woodward); and his Postdoctoral in 1966 from Harvard University (R. B. Woodward). This will be Dr. Rose's third year teaching at THINK.