University of Nevada, Reno professor of science education and executive director of the Raggio Research Center for STEM Education David T. Crowther has been named the president of the National Science Teachers Association. Crowther began his three-year term as president-elect of the NSTA on June 1, 2016. He will assume the office of president on June 1, 2017, and serve as the retiring president from 2018 to 2019.

"David's election as the president of NTSA is another great positive step for the University in terms of our ability to shape the national education system through research and expertise," Kenneth Coll, dean of the College of Education, said. "With Diane Barone serving as president of the International Reading Association (membership 60-70k) and David's election as president to the NTSA (membership over 70k), we now have two faculty members leading the education field. This marks an incredible precedent and the continuation of the University as a major influencer in the development of curriculum for faculty and students not just nationally, but internationally as well."

Crowther brings years of leadership and teaching experience to NSTA through his work as a classroom teacher, college professor, director, journal editor and author. In addition to having taught science at the elementary and middle levels for five years, Crowther also has 23 years of teaching experience at the university level, 20 of those years have been at the University. Crowther has been teaching science methods to undergraduate students; general biology to education majors; and a variety of courses in curriculum, science education and research to graduate students.

"David is a well-respected leader in the science education community," said NSTA Executive Director Dr. David Evans. "We are fortunate to have his skills and guidance, as well as his immense passion for quality science education at NSTA."

Crowther's term as president will integrate his presidential theme, a topic of interest chosen by the president for the organization to integrate in projects throughout his or her term, of "Engaging ALL students in science." It is around this theme that all initiatives and conferences will be based in the coming year. Crowther hopes this will push science educators to look beyond only gifted and talented students and engage all students whether it is using science to aid in learning the English language or simply furthering the natural curiosity that makes science such an interesting field.

"This is a huge honor for myself and for Nevada," Crowther said. "Nevada has never had a president of this organization and, oftentimes, Nevada gets some of the hard knocks in education. This is positive recognition or the work we are doing and an opportunity we can use to let people know of the great things happen in Nevada."

Active outside of the classroom, Crowther is also the associate editor of the Journal of Science Teacher Education and previously served as editor of CESI Science and associate editor of the Electronic Journal of Science Education. Crowther has also served as president of the Nevada State Science Teachers Association and the Council of Elementary Science International, was on the board of directors for the Association of Science Teacher Educators and was chairman of the board for Bailey Charter Elementary School in Reno, Nevada. Crowther is currently the chairman of the board of directors for the Nevada STEM Coalition and serves on the board of directors and the executive committee for the Terry Lee Wells Nevada Discovery Museum.

During his career, Crowther has received more than $10 million in grant funding for various projects, $7.5 million to the University alone. He is the principal investigator or co-principal investigator for several grants, including Project ReCharge, a National Science Foundation Innovative Technology Experience for Students and Teachers grant on energy education, the Northern Nevada English Language Initiative and STEM grant project from the U.S. Department of Education's Office of English Language Acquisition, and a NSF GK-12 E-Fellows grant.

Crowther has also published broadly for the science education community. He has edited and written a portion of the Gateway to Science textbook series from Thomson Press, consulted/ edited the children's book series The Science Behind from Heinemann-Raintree and is the co-author/ editor of NSTA Press' Science for English Language Learners. Additionally, Crowther has written 11 chapters in science education texts, wrote the educators guide for Monsterfish In Search of the Last River Giants, a traveling museum exhibit for National Geographic, and has published more than 40 articles in various scholarly journals and conference proceedings.

A passionate member of NSTA, Crowther serves on the organization's development advisory board and is a member of the preservice teacher preparation committee. Crowther also served on the conference committees for NSTA area conferences in 1999 and 2003 and was the conference chair for the 2015 area conference in Reno. Crowther has presented sessions at NSTA national and area conferences consistently since 1994.

The National Science Teachers Association is the largest professional organization in the world promoting excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all. NSTA's current membership includes approximately 55,000 science teachers, science supervisors, university faculty and administrators, scientists, business and industry representatives and others involved in science education.