Mike Town
National Science Foundation
National Science Board
Washington – High School, AP Environmental Science
Mike Town has been teaching science at Redmond High School for the past 25 years. Currently he teaches Advanced Placement Environmental Science and a course which has a focus on emerging green job skills known as Environmental Design and Sustainability. Redmond High School has achieved notoriety for its energy efficiency program –most which are run by the students. Geothermal heat, solar panels, behavioral and infrastructure changes at RHS have reduced the greenhouse gas footprint of the school to almost 50% below Kyoto levels.
Before his teaching career, Mike earned a degree in Environmental Science at Huxley College of the Environment. His research specialized in fire ecology and the ecological interaction between pine beetles and lodgepole pines in the Yellowstone area. He also earned a science education degree from Western Washington University and a Masters of Education from the University of Washington.
Mike has been recognized with numerous awards including:
■National Education Association Foundation Green Prize for the United States
■Environmental Educator of the Year from the North American Association of Environmental Educators
■Pemco/KCTS Golden Apple Award
■Conservation Fund Environmental Educator Award for the United States
■Western Washington / Huxley College Distinguished Alumni Award
■Amgen Science Teacher Award
■AP/Siemens Math/Science Teacher of the Year for Washington State
■Cox/KIRO TV Environmental Hero
Mike has written significant environmental and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) curriculum. The most notable curriculum is the Cool School Challenge (CSC) which enables students to conduct energy audits in schools across the United States. The CSC has won the EPA Clean Air Award and Mike’s CSC students received the Presidents Environmental Youth Award from President Bush in a White House Rose Garden ceremony.
Mike has been a member of numerous Boards of Directors and Advisory boards. He has also been active in a number of public lands, and education issues. His most notable achievement was his work in the passage of the Wild Sky Wilderness Act which protected 106,000 acres in Washington State and was signed into law in 2008. He has worked as a board member of the Brightwater Environmental Education Center which will open in Woodinville next Earth Day.
Mike and his wife Meg, a fellow science teacher, are passionate about science education and have attended science education institutes at Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Kalvi Institute for Theoretical Physics, MIT and the University of Washington. They live in a “green” house they designed, with solar panels and many other sustainable features, which has been featured in numerous magazines and Congressman Inslee’s book Apollo Fire. In their free time they enjoy hiking, biking, and organic gardening.
Mike brought to his position as an Einstein Fellow with the National Science Foundation, a strong background in science, especially in regards to science education issues. He has significant background in science content ranging from astrophysics to environmental science. He also is knowledgeable about education policy issues and has experience in the legislative process both at the state and federal level. He is passionate about increasing scientific literacy in the United States and was very excited about working with the National Science Board of the National Science Foundation.