Collaborate with a Scientist – They Need You!

As an association dedicated to empowering educators to provide the best possible biology and life science education for all students, we encompass educators at all educational levels in both formal and informal education. Embodied in our mission is the desire to improve the teaching of biology through mechanisms and experiences that exchange scientific and pedagogical content knowledge. Because membership in NABT is open to “any person sympathetic with the purpose of the Association,” we offer opportunities for dissemination to fellow professionals and the public and for creative collaborations among those working at different educational levels. As president, I know that building partnerships strengthens the association and helps broaden the impact we have on the quality of biology education. As a scientist at a university, I know that biological scientists need help from biology educators of all kinds. Let me offer my own rewarding experiences as examples. Scientists at colleges and universities are typically seen as content experts who serve to develop the content knowledge and research skills of their students. Depending on the institution in which they work, they put more or less of their time into scientific research and the pursuit of funds to support their research. In doing so, they …