About

Everyone can do science.

I am a writer, author, and professor emeritus from Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon. My career has been dedicated to the proposition that all people are curious, creative, and capable of doing science. Yet science education in the US remains marred in antiquated and rigid ideas about The Scientific Method that often frustrate, confuse, and alienate children almost as soon as they enter elementary school. As a result, we misunderstand how science works and we undervalue its role in serving society. My two recent books, Do Elephants Have Knees? and Challenging Science Standards, explore the pitfalls of our current approach to science education. My upcoming books projects and the essays, stories, and blog posts published here present an alternative model.