I live with my wife, Jean, in Chicago and teach Biology and Environmental Science at Niles West High School. Niles West is a large, suburban school in Skokie, Illinois. My Education degree is from Miami University (Ohio) and I recently completed an M.S. Degree in Biology (Ecology focus) at Northeastern Illinois University. I have been teaching for eight years and am looking forward to the inaugural year of AP Environmental Science at our school in the Fall of 2001. Starting this new course should prove to be a challenge, albeit an enjoyable one. I also coach soccer and help train the Biology contingent of our school’s Science Olympiad team. Our school is also fortunate to have an area of restored Illinois prairie. Myself, as well as other staff members and students work to expand and continue this restoration project, which was started in 1975. Being involved in all of these different areas is a constant source of excitement and provides me with many of those “Wow! I get paid for this!” moments.

I have also found that I love to develop new curriculum and present it to other teachers. The generation of ideas that instill in students a sense of wonder about Biology and connects it their everyday lives is very inspiring to me. The Costa Rica Institute is an amazing opportunity to share ideas with many talented teachers from across the country. It would be hard to design better reasons to participate, nor a better venue than Costa Rica.

Work Information

Job Title/Department

• Science Teacher

Born in CA, but grew up in San Antonio, Texas. Returned to CA to attend UCLA and have resided in LA ever since. I have been married for 2 years to my husband, Kurt, who is a motorcycle engineer for Honda. We’ve been together for 9 years. I have been teaching 7 years, 6 at Granada Hills High School in the San Fernando Valley. I piloted the first environmental science course at GHHS and now teach 3 sections of APES and 2 of 9th grade intro ES. My degree is in psychobiology and I have very little formal education in environmental science. I am self-taught from tons of books and workshops and just paying attention and figuring it out. My goal now is to seek out as much field experience as I can, so that I can truly understand and apply what I read about and teach about and bring those experiences back to the classroom. Last summer I lived in the Sonoran Desert for 5 weeks studying desert ecology at the Biosphere II Center in Arizona. This summer, CR. Next summer, who knows?

My love of environmental science and the earth’s biodiversity has grown from my teaching the subject and now has become a large part of who I am. I want to travel as much of the world as I can and experience biodiversity firsthand and work toward preserving it. I truly believe education of the masses is the answer and I see it as my personal mission to open the eyes of the young urbanites I teach to the wonders of nature. My students live in a city of 15 million people and know a lot about concrete, consumerism, and hollywood, but little about our interconnectedness and dependence on nature. Luckily, I find them hungry for the chance to get out of the mall and go hiking and tidepooling, etc. So, I try to provide such opportunities. Other than the outdoors, my main hobby is reading as voraciously as I can with such a busy teaching schedule.

My most recent awesome teaching moment was when one of my seniors stopped a conversation a few of us were having about bacteria that live inside of rocks or in hydrothermal vents and said, “You know what? Can I tell you, I LOVE the earth! It is just so amazing, all the life on this planet and what its capable of!” This was an epiphany for him-a moment in which everything I had taught and he had read all year finally came together and he really realized the complexity and wonder of the natural world. I think he surprised himself! I know he looks at the planet in a completely different way than he did when he walked in the door in September and that kind of moment is why I keep doing what I do year after year. What makes me a great teacher is passion for the subject and passion for the kids and this type of interaction with them is what keeps my passion alive.

Work Information

Job Title/Department

• Teacher, Science Department

I grew up in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas and currently reside in Tivoli, Texas on the coast just north of Corpus Christi. I received my Bachelor’s degree from Texas A&M University in College Station and my Master’s degree from Texas A&M - Corpus Christi.

My interests include traveling in the tropics. I enjoy taking students on trips to Central America and experiencing the rainforests and reefs through their eyes. My love of traveling and the outdoors lends itself well to my favorite hobby, outdoor and nature photography. I am fortunate to live in a community adjacent to the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge (winter home of the whooping crane) that provides many opportunities to photograph nature and enjoy the outdoors. I also enjoy all things aquatic - swimming, snorkeling, etc. I am currently learning underwater photography.

I teach in a very small rural school that has a primarily Hispanic population. This is my ninth year to teach and the fifth I have taught in Tivoli. I have taught all of the science classes from seventh grade up and currently teach Earth Science, Biology, and Chemistry.

My other activities include working with the wildlife refuge on various projects including the Attwater’s Prairie Chicken project and the Texas Horned Lizard project. I also try to help sponsor a student travel group to the rainforest each summer. So far, we have traveled in Honduras, Belize, Ecuador, the Galapagos Islands, and Costa Rica. I can’t wait to learn all I can from the institute to share with the next group of students.

Work Information

Job Title/Department

• Teacher - Science Dept.

My teaching career started out as a Peace Corps science teacher in Fiji and I have taught and traveled ever since. I enjoy teaching multicultures rather than monocultures. Hobbies are photography, painting, gardening, and fencing. My homelife has the international flavor since my husband is Colombian. Technology is the battlefied since I have to compete with two teenage daughters over the computer and phone ( I usually lose ). My favorite subject to teach would be environmental chemistry. This year our class projects have involved partnerships with the Animal Shelter, Botanic Gardens, BRIT (Botanical Research Institute of Texas), local soup kitchen, a nursing home, and tutoring the new immigrant students.

Work Information

Job Title/Department

• Lead Science Teacher at Applied Learning Academy

I am interested in everything. I am a sports enthusiast. I work daily to stay in shape. Life is a treat. I live with my wife and youngest son who is 15. My 19-year-old daughter is a sophomore Florida State University. My oldest child, Heidi, is a stage manager at a theatre in Atlanta. She graduated from Stetson with a degree in Theatre and Communications, and is living her dream. I scuba dive, sail and play in the water often. I lived in ski areas in Colorado for 12 years, skiing, on the ski patrol, and then teaching and coaching. I competed in gymnastics with a four-year scholarship. I have taught math and physical science for 26 years. I am currently teaching all Physics which is my favorite. I currently teach at a magnet art high school. I have been working hard to integrate art into my curriculum. I team teach a 2 year class with a chemistry teacher where we use art projects to meet the standards required by the state. I began to use a modeling method a few years ago to teach physics. It is awesome. The kids discover the concepts by a lab generated discovery method. I still cover most of the stuff and the kids are on task all the time.(almost). I became Nationally Board Certified last year. Yahoo. I signed up for the institute because I love an adventure, and I have always wanted to go to Costa Rica. I am sure this is going to be an adventure.

Work Information

Job Title/Department

• High School Physics teacher / Science

I grew up in Tucson, Arizona, received my B.S. in Zoology from Northern Arizona University, spent a year studying ecology in Wuerzburg, Germany, and finally, completed my teaching credential (and most of a Master's) at Fresno State. When I was in sixth grade I decided I was going to become a zoologist, and that goal held firm all through college and even through the beginning of graduate school. However, between my first and second graduate year, I started teaching kids at the local zoo and became hooked on that "teaching thing." I now spend the school year teaching and the summers doing field work (endangered species surveys, habitat restoration, etc.). By the time I meet everyone in Costa Rica, I will be married to Martin, an endangered species biologist with the California Department of Fish and Game (we will be arriving in CR a week early to get married at a jungle lodge on the beach!). After that, it's "See you in three weeks, honey!" I will also have moved from Fresno to a small town in southern California named Ojai. The school I am currently working at is 89% non-Caucasian, as well as high LEP and low-income (and I love it!), so I made sure to choose a school for my next teaching position with similar demographics. I teach zoology and biology, and next year I will teach Biology and AP Biology. My favorite activities are reading, doing fieldwork, and "playing" with critters (I am especially fond of arthropods and herps, but I'll take those charismatic macro-fauna whenever they come around!). The two major goals I have in my life are #1: To have visited all 7 continents (I've done 5 so far) and #2: to earn a PhD. The main reason I signed up for the institute is because I would have kicked myself if I had passed up the opportunity! I went to the Amazon last year (Peru), but just putzed around with a local guide for a week, so the opportunity to spend three weeks with fellow teachers and scientists doing actual research is truly fabulous. Someday I would love to be on one of those teams that spend months deep in the rain forest documenting flora and fauna.

Work Information

Job Title/Department

• Teacher/ Life Science

I Love learning about new materials or teaching approaches that I can use in my classroom. Really enjoy sports and being actively involved in the coaching of baseball and soccer. Goal: to learn as much as possible and to help others become better in areas that I can help.

I have a wonderful family. My wife of 28 years, Vicki is an registered nurse in an administrative capacity. We have a 21 year old, Bret, who will be a senior at the University of Iowa. Bret has applied for Dental school and will know by December if he is accepted. Derek is a fifth grader who is an excellent student, enjoys sports, plays the trumpet, and is a avid reader.

We have lived in Iowa City since 1973. My wife and I both graduated from the University of Iowa. We both received our masters from Iowa and I am currently working on my PhD. dissertation.

Was born in Mexico, parents moved to Clear Lake when I was five and that is where they make their home. I went to Clear Lake High school.

West Branch is a rural town. President Hoover grew up at West Branch. The town is one of 10 that has a Presidential Library and park grounds. WB is located 16 miles east of Iowa City. I have taught 21 years at West Branch and taught 4 years at New London. I have held many summer jobs before I became a teacher. Have never worked outside of teaching. Received a NIH grant to study at the Human Genome center in Iowa City. Received two Fulbright teaching awards--Russia for 5 weeks and Japan for 3 weeks. I enjoy gardening. We have a 10 foot by 10 foot green house. Enjoy taking vacations with my family. Enjoy doing things with my kids, mostly sports related.

My awesome teaching moments occur when I am getting kids excited about science. I don't know if I am a great teacher but I know that I am the best teacher in my classroom.

I have signed up for this institute to learn and to experience what a rain forest is really like. It is one thing to read about it, but nothing beats being right there. There is a huge rainforest facility that is scheduled to be built 15 miles from where I live. It will be about 10 stories high with the core areas being educational research, teacher development, and information dissemination. Have been in contact with the director of the project.

Work Information

Job Title/Department

• Middle School science teacher

I live alone just west of the city of Kokomo in an old farmhouse at the end of a long lane in the middle of a cornfield (well it’s soybeans this year). I farmed for my first 8 years after high school so this feels like home even though huge factories dominate Kokomo. I got a full time job teaching Introductory Biology at Northwestern High School 12 years ago and have remained in the same house and classroom for the entire time. The school is a pleasant, well-maintained, mid-American, suburban, college-bound kind of place that ranks well in the state but suffers from its lack of diversity. As a dedicated teacher I have sponsored many extra-curricular activities and coached sports at the junior high. Although my family moved to rural southern Indiana when I was 15, prior to that I had attended urban schools in Pittsburgh and Boston (where I was born). My older brother still lives on the east Coast (Phila.), while 2 sisters, a mother, 2 aunts, and a brother live in nearby Mid-western cities. More than my city dwelling siblings I like to spend time in the outdoors in quiet settings. I am an enthusiastic observer of the nature that abounds in my own back yard. During the summer I take extended tours of parks and wilderness areas for camping and backpacking. I also often take hands-on classes. I read voraciously, exercise vigorously, and motorcycle less often than I used to (I am bicycling more). Music is my creative outlet - I kind of poke at my piano and fumble with my guitar and sometimes I really raise a racket with my bongos- but the only thing I’m really any good with is the harmonica. Oh, and sometimes I make up a song. I guess one of my favorite teaching moments was when I started playing a song called BIOLOGY that looks at the course from the perspective of a ninth grader. Well, by the end of the year there was a group of kids that would come up and dance and sing with me every time I played. I felt pretty lucky, a song like that doesn’t come along very often. Otherwise, I often wish I were a better teacher. Sometimes I feel so gummed up, bogged down, and inundated by my job that a tropical rainforest in the rainy season.... on second thought, I will reserve judgment on that comparison. And despite the stresses I do love my job!

Work Information

Job Title/Department

• Biology teacher

I was born and grew up in California. When I attended Disneyland’s opening day in 1955, I walked through orange groves and open fields to get there - in L.A.! As a kid, I ran barefoot in unculverted creeks and collected amphibians to sell to the pet shop to finance the activities of my “Nature Club”. There has been a lot of global change since then and I have been responsible for some of it. Now, I reside in Albany, CA with my husband of 30 years, Bob, and three children, two in college and one in middle school.

I have always been interested in nature and evolution. I got my B.A. in Zoology from the University of California at Berkeley, and my Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from the University of Michigan. My research investigated the evolutionary background of social cooperation in paper wasps. I hope to share with my high school students the thrill of acquiring new knowledge.

I teach Biology, Physiology, and two levels of Environmental Science at Oakland High School in Oakland, California. O-High is a large (2,200 student) urban public school, part of the Oakland Unified School District. Oakland has been in the national spotlight from time to time for innovative approaches to the problems of inner city education (for examples, Ebonics and our mayor Jerry Brown’s military academy). We are very diverse, with no ethnic majority. Our students reflect the mass movements of people worldwide seeking a better life and relief from racism, war and poverty (in the U.S., Latin America, Africa, Southeast Asia, and now Eastern Europe). A majority are learning English as a second language. They are an energetic, inquisitive, creative and occasionally brilliant bunch, and I am sure some of them will change the world. It has been a privilege to work with them.

As a teacher, I try to provide students with the information and opportunity to develop critical thinking skills that will help them to make responsible choices as world citizens. This requires putting them in an active role as learners. I am always on the look-out for teaching formats which will do this, which is one reason I applied to WWNFF Costa Rica. I have participated in several local and national teacher programs with this goal in mind. I worked with biotechnology partners from the Lawrence Hall of Science, Berkeley, to develop and implement DNA labs. In 1995, I was an Access Excellence Fellow, and returned to the Access Excellence Conference in 1996 as a facilitator. I helped to coordinate online projects through the Access Excellence website (below), including Acid Rain/ Acid Snow, AETelegenetics, and RayDay (investigating ozone deletion using uv-sensitive yeast).

In 1997, Oakland Unified introduced a sweeping high school reform initiative: School-to-Career academies! My colleague, Kevin Jordan, and I took the seed money and formed Oakland High’s Environmental Science Academy. The following year, we were granted full partnership status by California Department of Education Career Partnership Academies program. Our academy provides 240 students of all levels of ability 1) core classes in science, math and English with an environmental focus, 2) applied learning through operation of a monitoring program at Lake Merritt, job shadows and paid internships in environmentally related fields, and 3) opportunities for service learning and outdoor recreation (rafting, camping, mountain biking and more). Our motto is “In the future, all careers will be environmental!” As CO-Director of the academy, I do everything from dreaming up the program and dealing with the paperwork, to teaching five sections, tutoring and counseling. It’s a great life, and I have no hobbies.

Work Information

Job Title/Department

• CO-Director of Environmental Science Academy, Science Teacher/Science Department

I live in West Palm Beach Florida but grew up and went to school in Wisconsin. I moved to Florida over a decade ago because I couldn’t find a teaching job in Wisconsin. I have had a myriad of educational experiences. I was the cheerleading coach, club moderator (Key, science, environmental and SECME), collaborated with students to create a traveling chemistry show, organized a summer science camp for 4th-6th grade students, and have collaborated with my colleagues to integrate science. I have served on the board of the Florida Association of Science Teachers for 10 years and am the current president. I was the non public school liaison, secretary and web page designer. I am also a board member and former treasurer of the local umbrella environmental organization, PalmNet. I signed up for this institute for a number of reasons. First I love adventure and learning! In addition I am going to be teaching AP environmental for the second year and feel I need to build my knowledge about global environmental issues.

Work Information

Job Title/Department

• Science Department Chair/ Teacher

How much do I like kids? Well, I live with twenty-five of them during the school year! (see “Key Responsibilities” below) I work (and reside) on the campus of an independent school just north of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In a sense, I’ve come full circle. I was born just thirty minutes from where I currently live but spent most of my childhood in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. After high school, I attended Brown University in Rhode Island and graduated from there with a degree in Biology in 1994.

I have spent my entire teaching career (seven years) at my current school. I am very interested in professional development. In addition to presenting at several local and state conventions, one might say that I am an institute “junkie.” I enjoy learning and have had the opportunity to examine teaching, biology, science, mathematics, and technology at a variety of places, including Boston University, Carnegie Mellon University, Manhattan College, Penn State University, the University of Kansas, Villanova University, and Wesleyan University. The two most unusual of these experiences have been taking a Tropical Field Ecology course in the Bahamas and being an Earthwatch volunteer on the island of Maui. I was also a Biology Institute “Woodie” at Princeton University in 1998.

I enjoy reading, playing Scrabble, solving puzzles, and listening to music (in my spare time!). I use technology both in (graphing calculators & CBLs) and outside of (Macintosh computer & Palm Pilot) the classroom. One of the things that I think influences my students is my enthusiasm about biology (and learning in general). I am proud to say that a number of my students have decided to major biology or environmental science in college. Having said that, my students also realize that I am interested in and enjoy more than just biology. I enjoy watching football and am a die hard Pittsburgh Steelers fan!

In college, I wasn’t really interested in research. However, since becoming a teacher, this has all changed. Last summer, I worked on a biomedical research project at the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing’s Department of Health Prevention and Development under the supervision of a clinical researcher This was followed by an experience of being an Earthwatch Institute volunteer studying the effect of water usage on the aquatic macroinvertebrates under the supervision of a research scientist.

Work Information

Job Title/Department

• Biology Teacher in the Senior School Science Department

I was born and raised in central New Jersey. I`ve been married sixteen years to my wife Devon. We have two children, our daughter who is a teenager, and our son who is soon to be eight years old. We presently reside in Piscataway, N.J.

I received my Bachelor of Science Degree from Virginia Union University located in Richmond, Virginia; the experience at “dear old Union” has brought me this far. At Virginia Union I majored in Biology, and my minor was Chemistry. I`ve taken graduate courses at several educational institutions including Rutgers University, Montclair State University, Monmouth University, and Manhattan College. I hope to complete work on a Master`s Degree soon.

With respect to my professional careers, I`ve had the good fortune to work in both the corporate sector and in education. My first job out of college was with Schering Plough Corporation as a research assistant; most of the work I did dealt with was depletion studies on the wide spectrum antibiotic Gentamycin. For a stint of about six years I worked in marketing for the New Jersey Bell Telephone Company, aside from the corporate glamour, I looked forward to getting back into something that was science related. The OPPORTUNITY (capitalized for emphasis) presented itself to me to become a science teacher in Newark, N.J., I jumped on it / it jumped on me. Now, for more than twenty years I`ve been a science teacher, teaching science is my passion.

The life science courses I`ve taught include Honors Biology, CP Biology, and Anatomy and Physiology. I`ve also taught Chemistry, Earth Science, and Comprehensive Science. This past year for the first time I taught an ecology course, the students were able to complete original research work via an air pollution study and a water pollution study. It is my hope to have the water pollution study results posted at the Woodrow Wilson ESI98 website. During summers I`ve worked as a teacher in the Rutgers University Pre-college Program and also the Bloomfield College Upward Bound Program. My experience as a science teacher has been varied and personally rewarding.

Work Information

Job Title/Department

• Science Teacher

My goal as a science teacher is to provide my students with an understanding and appreciation of science. I try to bring relevance into the classroom and take the classroom into the real world. It is very important to me that my students are trained to become critical thinkers. To train students in such a manner, I use very little lecture, but instead provide students with the information and ask them to analyze and draw conclusions. I am very interested in biotechnology and the Human Genome Project. When I retire from teaching, I plant to work in the state crime lab. I watch every forensic show on television. I am divorced. I live in Ridgeland, Mississippi. Ridgeland is located in Madison County, north of Jackson, MS. I grew up in Chicago and Kosciusko, MS. I graduated from McAdams High School and obtained my BS and MS degrees in biology from Jackson State University. My school is located in Terry, MS (South of Jackson). The population of Terry is less than 5000. Our students live in Terry, Byram, Raymond, and South Jackson. These are upper middle class communities. Terry is a 4A school with 960 students (65% white and 35% black). I have taught in the same school my entire teaching career. I have been teaching for twenty-two years. I have worked at J.C. Penney for 24 years. It was my college job and now I work 8 hours a week. I don’t really have any hobbies but I enjoy looking for antiques and reading forensic novels. Jefferey Deaver (Bone Collector), Patricia Cornwell, and Charles Wilson are my favorite authors. My most enjoyable teaching moments occur when I see that “light” come on in my students and to see my students succeed in a scientific or medical field. I enjoy receiving college/medical graduation invitations, wedding invitations, and baby pictures from my former students. When my students succeed, I am successful. My principal jokes all the time about not needing a teacher in my classroom. Last year, the sub did not show up and it was fifth period (lunch) before the administrators realized there was not a teacher in the classroom. My students posted the absentees, completed a lab activity from the day before, and left the assignment on my desk. The environmental science class is new to our curriculum and is the weakest part of the science department. None of the science teachers are trained in environmental science. I hope this institute will allow me to improve instruction in the environmental science class. I am not teaching the class but I will mentor a third year teacher/coach teaching the class.

Work Information

Job Title/Department

• Science Department Chairperson/Teacher