Education and Licenses


Bachelor of Science, GEOLOGY- Tennessee Technological University, August 1996, Biology and Geography minors


Master of the Arts, INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERSHIP- Tennessee Technological University, May 2010


TENNESSEE LICENSED PROFESSIONAL GEOLOGIST, Retired License (1996 - 2018)


PROFESSIONAL TEACHER LICENSE, endorsement codes 418 (Earth Science, Physical Science, Environmental Science, Grades 7 - 12); 126 (Biology I, Biology II, Ecology, Human Anatomy and Physiology, Grades 6 - 12) and 460 (Special Education Modified, Grades K - 12).


TN Highly Qualified Status in (a) 9 - 12 Biology, (b) 9 - 12 Earth Science, (c) 9 - 12 Physical Science, (d) 7 - 8 Science


Professional Service, Honors & Awards, Leadership Roles

• CLINTON MIDDLE SCHOOL, 7/1/2012 - Present: Purveyor of 8th grade science (2018 - present) and 7th grade science (2012-2018).


• Mentor to University of Tennessee VOLS TEACH interns, Spring 2014, Spring 2015, Fall 2015, Spring 2016


• CLINTON HIGH SCHOOL, 2/8/1999 - 6/30/2012: Purveyor of regular and honors level Astronomy and Geology for grades 10 - 12; Earth Science for grades 9 - 12; Biology I Honors for grades 9-12 and Physical Science for grades 9 - 12.



• Named 2010 OUTSTANDING EARTH SCIENCE TEACHER for the SOUTHEASTERN SECTION of the National Association of Geoscience Teachers for "exceptional contributions to the stimulation of interest in the Earth Sciences at the pre-college level." Click here to read Clinton Courier article Click here to read OakRidger article


• Named TENNESSEE OUTSTANDING EARTH SCIENCE TEACHER (NAGT, see above) for 2010


• Member, K-16 PARTNER REPRESENTATIVE of the Executive Committee for the TENNESSEE TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY STEM CENTER for the Teaching and Learning in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, 2005-2011


• Member, Clinton High School National Honor Society Faculty Council, 2002 – 2012.


• Member, Clinton High School Leadership Team, 2006 – 2012.


• Named “Funniest Teacher” by Clinton High faculty, 2008-09 school year


• Selected RADIO SHACK NATIONAL TEACHER OF THE YEAR for innovative science teaching through the use of technology, 2004 Click here to read article from the Herald-Citizen (6/10/2004)


• Selected as Anderson County’s TEACHER OF THE YEAR, grades 9 – 12, 2003.


• Voted Clinton High School’s TEACHER OF THE YEAR, 2003 by CHS faculty and staff.


• Mentor to University of Tennessee teaching interns, 2000-01 and 2001-02 school years


• Conference attendee, Inclusion: It’s Everybody’s Business: Joint conference on Children and Youth with Disabilities from Birth through age 21… selected to accompany Anderson County special education faculty and directors as the most successful inclusion teacher at CHS, February 2002


• Named to Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers, eds 7, 9 - 11 via student nominations. (2003, 2005, 2006, 2007)


• Voted “Funniest Teacher” by the Clinton High School Senior classes of 2001 & 2003 and CHS faculty in 2008


• SCIENCE COORDINATOR AND INSTRUCTOR, Project Success Summer Camp for At Risk Freshmen… developed hands-on laboratory experiences and field trips for entering freshmen recognized as being “at risk” by their 8th grade teachers, June – July 2001


• Tennessee Technological University’s CUMBERLAND CAREER EQUITY CENTER (CCEC) Teacher… conducted more than thirty “career day” seminars for eight graders from multiple Upper Cumberland schools, served as science resource person, and assisted with and taught summer camp classes for college-bound female honor students stressing science(especially geology) as a career choice, 1994 – 1999.


• TEACHING ASSISTANT, TENNESSEE TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY, DEPARTMENT OF EARTH SCIENCES, August 1993 - February 1999. Instructed students in the introductory trio of laboratory courses- physical, environmental and historical geology. Promoted to ADJUNT FACULTY prior to departure.


• Awarded 2nd place, quantitative division of the 1994 TTU Honor’s Program Undergraduate Research Paper Contest for work correlating select ostracode species of Texas to their unique paleoenvironments.


Selected Professional Development Activities


• DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY’S “ACADEMY FOR CREATING TEACHER SCIENTISTS” RESEARCH ASSOCIATE, OAK RIDGE NATIONAL LABORATORY, June – August 2004, 2005, 2006.

Intense summer research program designed to involve high school teachers in cutting-edge research. 2004 involved high temperature x-ray diffraction and conductivity studies of ion conducting ceramics while 2005 and 2006 involved defining the previously unknown crystal structure and site occupancies of Mo5Re2Si over extreme temperature ranges. Results from each summer were presented at poster presentations.


• LOCKHEED – MARTIN FELLOW , June – July 2000.

Academy for Science and Math Teachers: University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Intense summer camp program integrating science and math across the curriculum. Concentrations included grant writing, web page design, integration of outdoor activities and labs into the classroom and integration of graphing calculators into the classroom for data manipulation.


• GEOTREK PARTICIPANT, June – July 1997.

University of Tennessee, Knoxville’s “GEOTREK”, a summer field camp for Tennessee science teachers. Evaluated, designed and implemented lesson plans developed from real life geological field studies in the New Madrid Rift Zone/Reelfoot Lake Area; Ashfall Fossil Beds and Agate Fossil Beds in Nebraska and the Yellowstone Geothermal Area and Teton Mountain Range of Wyoming and Montana. Lessons were developed in the field using multi-media equipment and evaluated, critiqued and improved by veteran and novice TN science teachers.


Professional Memberships

  • Member, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

  • Member, Geological Society of America (GSA)

  • Member, Friends of Mineralogy (FM)

  • Member, American Geophysical Union (AGU)

  • Member, National Education Association (NEA)

  • Member, Anderson County Education Association (ACEA)