Tom is an instructional technologist (Ph.D., 2002) serving as an education manager at Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) where he manages the education community (http://edcommunity.esri.com), STEM activities, and educational research efforts.

Since his time teaching middle school science, he has served on the research faculty at the University of Kansas and managed federal and state funded efforts to include technology tools for supporting collaboration and inquiry in the classroom.  His funded work has included “Extending Scientific Inquiry through Collaborative GIS” (ESIC) and Pathfinder Science (http://pathfinderscience.net), an environment for collaborative scientific investigations among students. 

His research interests have focused on improving student outcomes with technology, teacher professional development, and student collaborations.  Tom is completing his tenure on the Executive Board of the National Council of Geographic Education (http://ncge.org) and volunteers his time developing curriculum for STEM program at the local Girl Scout council (http://plugged-in.org).