Tennessee Academy of Science

Information for K-12 Teachers

Distinguished Secondary School Science Teacher Award


Do you know a middle or high school science teacher in Tennessee that deserves recognition?

Nominate them to the Tennessee Academy of Science Distinguished Secondary School Science Teacher Award!

The award recipient will receive $1000!

More information can be found at the bottom of our awards page!

TAS Visiting Scientist Program


Many TAS members are excited to work with K-12 teachers and students throughout the state. Some ways that TAS members may help K-12 teachers include answering questions or even visiting your classroom to talk about science!

How might you as a teacher use the TAS Visiting Scientist Program to support your students?

Here are just a few common examples

Invite a scientist (TAS member) in for a career day talk.

Invite a TAS member scientist to come do a science experiment or activity with your class.

Maybe you as a teacher would like to spend time in the summer working alongside a TAS scientist in their laboratory?

Engage your class in a citizen science project organized by a TAS scientist - find them through the TAS webpage.

Find science fair judges through the TAS website

TAS members and scientists are typically university and college faculty members, but we also have members who are undergraduate or graduate STEM majors, post-doctoral fellows, clinicians, government employees, industry employees, etc.

TAS members and scientists are pleased to support teaching and learning in STEM fields and wish to serve teachers and students from public or private K-12 schools, informal science education settings, homeschool groups, club/organizational leaders, etc.

TAS members and scientists either explicitly or implicitly aim to accomplish one or more of the following:

Increase student interest in STEM fields

Diversify participation in STEM fields

Increase engagement in science by teachers, students, their families, and the general public

Increase science content knowledge of teachers, students, their families, and the general public

Increase positive attitudes towards science by teachers, students, their families, and the general public

Reduce fear and/or distrust of STEM concepts by demystifying science and scientists.

If you are looking for a point of contact from a particular field of study, consider contacting the TAS section chairs, listed below.

SectionContact PersonE-Mail Address
BotanyDr. Emily Powell
Tennessee Tech University
edpowell42@tntech.edu
Cell & Molecular BiologyDr. Felicity Sterling
Belmont University
felicity.sterling@belmont.edu
ChemistryDr. Xuanzhi Shawn Zhan
Tennessee Tech University
xzhan@tntech.edu
Ecology & Environmental ScienceDr. Stanton Belford
The University of Tennessee Southern
sbelfor2@utsouthern.edu
Engineering & Engineering TechnologyDr. Khalid Tantawi
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
khalid-tantawi@utc.edu
Health & Medical SciencesVacant
History of ScienceDr. Somaditya Banerjee
Austin Peay State University
banerjees@apsu.edu
Physics & Astronomy

Dr. Allyn Smith
Austin Peay State University

Dr. Gregory Vieira
Rhodes College

smithj@apsu.edu

vieirag@rhodes.edu

Science & Math TeachingDr. Philip C. Short
Austin Peay State University
shortp@apsu.edu
ZoologyDr. Julie Baker Phillips
Cumberland University
jphillips@cumberland.edu





You may also contact these people for assistance.

Dr. Vishwas Bedekar

Brian Caine

Dr. Gilbert Pitts