Daniel Barstow Brings 34 Years Education Experience
The Board of Directors of Challenger
Center for Space Science Education named Daniel Barstow as the
education organization's new President on Wednesday.
"I am thrilled that Dan Barstow has been selected by our
Challenger Center Board to serve as our next president," said June
Scobee Rodgers, Ph.D., widow of the Space Shuttle Challenger flight
51-L commander Dick Scobee, and the Founding Chairman of Challenger
Center. "Congress and national reports have called for a revolution
in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM)
education. With Dan Barstow as president, Challenger Center can
become one of the most important forces for revolutionizing STEM
education at a time when the nation's needs couldn't be greater. We
are proud and honored to have Dan Barstow join our dedicated staff
and network of over 50 Challenger Learning Centers."
Barstow comes to Challenger Center with 34 years experience in
education, technology, research, science, integrating dynamic
systems, writing and working with bilingual students and adults.
Daniel Barstow was most recently the Director of TERC's Center for
Earth and Space Science Education, one of the nation's leading
centers for research and development in Earth and space science
education. Mr. Barstow has directed a staff of 25 educators,
scientists, curriculum developers, professional development
specialists and technologists whose combined talents have created
inquiry-based visualizations to explore Earth as a system.
Scobee Rogers adds that Barstow is the national chair of the
Climate Literacy Network, and has been the principal investigator
and co-PI on several NSF, NOAA and NASA initiatives, including
Windows On Earth, ISS EarthKAM, GLOBE, National Model Earth Science
Lab Course and MarsQuest Online.
Early in his career, Barstow taught elementary school, bilingual
students, and coordinated city-wide gifted and talented programs.
His understanding of the problems that students and teachers face
in today's educational arena give Mr. Barstow the ability to create
and direct curricula that meet the needs of the classroom while
bringing the national standards and STEM objectives into their
daily experiences.
As President, Barstow assumes responsibility of a non-for-profit
organization dedicated to student and teacher excellence in
science, technology, math and engineering education, preparing
students for the workforce of tomorrow. The international network
of Challenger Learning Centers brings the wonders of the universe
to hundreds of thousands of students and educators annually.
Barstow will assume his responsibilities on December 1,
2008.