PAST CONTRIBUTORS
For biographies of more recent contributors see their articles in issues from 2017 to the present
Thomas Burnett
Thomas Burnett went to Rice University to study physics and become an astronaut. Four years later, he emerged with a degree in philosophy and a love of European intellectual history. With a passion for foreign languages and cultures, Thomas spent the next two years in Innsbruck, Austria as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar and Fulbright teacher. After many great backcountry ski tours, mountain bike rides, and an expected encounter with God, he returned to the United States to conduct his Ph.D. research in the history of science at University of California, Berkeley.
Thomas originally moved to Washington, D.C. to teach high school physics and environmental science, but has since found his true calling in science writing and communications. He started the God and Nature blog for the American Scientific Affiliation, received a fellowship at the National Academy of Sciences, interned for the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and is currently an associate editor at the Biologos Foundation.
Thomas originally moved to Washington, D.C. to teach high school physics and environmental science, but has since found his true calling in science writing and communications. He started the God and Nature blog for the American Scientific Affiliation, received a fellowship at the National Academy of Sciences, interned for the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and is currently an associate editor at the Biologos Foundation.
Walt Hearn
Walter R. Hearn grew up in Houston and majored in chemistry at Rice University. He received a Ph.D. in biochemistry at the University of Illinois in 1951. After doing research for a year at Yale Medical School and for three years at Baylor College of Medicine, he spent 17 years on the biochemistry faculty at Iowa State University. His research interests included peptide chemistry, hypothalamic hormones, and bacterial pigment biosynthesis. For five years he was a Visiting Biologist to Colleges for the American Institute of Biological Sciences. He is a Fellow and Life Member of AAAS and an Emeritus member of the American Chemical Society. In 1972 he switched professions and moved to Berkeley to do free-lance editorial work with his wife Virginia. They have edited periodicals and some 200 books, largely for Christian publishers.
Walt joined ASA while he was in grad school and served on the Council in the 1960s. From 1969 to 1993 he edited the ASA newsletter. He was a coauthor of the widely distributed publication, Teaching Science in a Climate of Controversy (ASA, 1986) and author of Being a Christian in Science (IVP, 1997). He has also contributed chapters to a number of books, the latest being "Creation Matters" in Darwin and the Bible: The Cultural Confrontation (Penguin Academic, 2009), edited by anthropologists Richard Robbins and Mark Cohen. His articles, reviews, and poems have appeared in such publications as Perspectives on Science & Christian Faith and the Berkeley publication Radix, for which Ginny has been copy editor for over 40 years. Walt was once "poetry rejection editor" for Radix magazine. Walt and Ginny have strong IVCF backgrounds, helped to launch New College for Advanced Christian Studies in the 1980s, and are members of Berkeley's First Presbyterian Church.
Walt joined ASA while he was in grad school and served on the Council in the 1960s. From 1969 to 1993 he edited the ASA newsletter. He was a coauthor of the widely distributed publication, Teaching Science in a Climate of Controversy (ASA, 1986) and author of Being a Christian in Science (IVP, 1997). He has also contributed chapters to a number of books, the latest being "Creation Matters" in Darwin and the Bible: The Cultural Confrontation (Penguin Academic, 2009), edited by anthropologists Richard Robbins and Mark Cohen. His articles, reviews, and poems have appeared in such publications as Perspectives on Science & Christian Faith and the Berkeley publication Radix, for which Ginny has been copy editor for over 40 years. Walt was once "poetry rejection editor" for Radix magazine. Walt and Ginny have strong IVCF backgrounds, helped to launch New College for Advanced Christian Studies in the 1980s, and are members of Berkeley's First Presbyterian Church.
Fred Heeren
Science journalist Fred Heeren has written for Nature, New Scientist, ScienceNOW, Smithsonian, and Scientific American, as well as for the newspapers The Boston Globe, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post. His work also appears in the college textbooks Understanding Human Origins and McGraw-Hill’s Physical Anthropology.
Fred specialized in modern cosmology during his first decade of science writing, when he interviewed Nobel prize-winning astrophysicists, NASA team leaders, and theoretical physicists. During that period he authored the book, Show Me God. In the past decade, while researching for his next book, he has specialized in both dinosaur and hominid evolution, traveling to cover breaking discoveries at fossil sites in Africa, Asia, Europe, and South America.
Fred serves with Day Star Research, a non-profit organization dedicated to improved exegesis of both God’s Word and God's world, as well as peacemaking between believers and non-believers.
Fred specialized in modern cosmology during his first decade of science writing, when he interviewed Nobel prize-winning astrophysicists, NASA team leaders, and theoretical physicists. During that period he authored the book, Show Me God. In the past decade, while researching for his next book, he has specialized in both dinosaur and hominid evolution, traveling to cover breaking discoveries at fossil sites in Africa, Asia, Europe, and South America.
Fred serves with Day Star Research, a non-profit organization dedicated to improved exegesis of both God’s Word and God's world, as well as peacemaking between believers and non-believers.
Peter Hess
Peter M. J. Hess earned his M.A. in philosophy and theology from Oxford University in 1984, and his Ph.D. in historical theology from the Graduate Theological Union in 1993. His scholarly work focuses on the complex interactions between science and religion in early modern Europe, particularly on the impact of science on natural theology, and the appropriation of the developing sciences by theologians during this period.
He has taught theology at the University of San Francisco and other Bay Area institutions since 1985, and has recently completed six years of service as Associate Program Director of the Science and Religion Course Program (SRCP) at the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences in Berkeley, CA. He and his wife Viviane have two sons, and he is an avid mountaineer and rock climber.
Peter is also the author of Catholicism and Science, a Greenwood Guide to Science and Religion.
He has taught theology at the University of San Francisco and other Bay Area institutions since 1985, and has recently completed six years of service as Associate Program Director of the Science and Religion Course Program (SRCP) at the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences in Berkeley, CA. He and his wife Viviane have two sons, and he is an avid mountaineer and rock climber.
Peter is also the author of Catholicism and Science, a Greenwood Guide to Science and Religion.
Gavin Merrifield
Gavin Merrifield is originally from the south-west of England, where he studied astrophysics at Exeter before moving to Scotland for postgraduate studies in photonics at St. Andrews. Following this he moved to Edinburgh where he currently lives. He worked in biomedical imaging research at the University of Edinburgh for five years which lead on to his current PhD-research to develop functional brain imaging techniques in rodents.
Gavin is interested in the intersection of theology with new discoveries and technologies, particularly in the biomedical arena and with artificial and extraterrestrial intelligences. He has been a member of Christians in Science for five years and is the local co-ordinator for the Edinburgh group.
Spinning out from his imaging research has been a growing interest in the physiology and behaviour of spiders of all shapes and sizes. He lives with several large examples and a very tolerant flatmate.
Gavin also performs vital research into the contentious confectionary subject area known as ‘the fudge pyramid’. Rigorous (ravenous?) experimental studies continue apace as new flavours and combinations are endlessly produced locally.
Gavin is interested in the intersection of theology with new discoveries and technologies, particularly in the biomedical arena and with artificial and extraterrestrial intelligences. He has been a member of Christians in Science for five years and is the local co-ordinator for the Edinburgh group.
Spinning out from his imaging research has been a growing interest in the physiology and behaviour of spiders of all shapes and sizes. He lives with several large examples and a very tolerant flatmate.
Gavin also performs vital research into the contentious confectionary subject area known as ‘the fudge pyramid’. Rigorous (ravenous?) experimental studies continue apace as new flavours and combinations are endlessly produced locally.
Bill Morse
Bill Morse has been a lead physicist at Brookhaven National Laboratory for over thirty years, and in 2006 was awarded the honor of being named Fellow in the American Physical Society. He is especially well known for his role as resident spokesman for the BNL muon anomalous magnetic moment experiment, the findings of which challenged the Standard Model of particle physics, the reigning theory that describes the fundamental structure of matter.
Bill grew up a good Catholic. For first communion, he and the other candidates had to memorize the catecism—50 questions and answers about Catholic faith. They were told that the Bishop would come and question them, and Bill didn't want to let his church down—so he memorized all fifty. Then the Bishop came, and the first student he asked to come up was the class clown. Bill thought, "This is going to be a disaster!"
However, the Bishop asked question #1: What is the purpose of life?
Bill thought, "Surely he knows the first one..." But he didn't! So the Bishop bent down and whispered in the boy's ear, and the boy said in a very loud voice, "The purpose of life is to know, love, and serve God." The Bishop patted him on the head and all the parents applauded.
Then Bill went to college. He thought, Gee, life is complicated, and what does the Bishop know about life, especially about girls?! Also, Bill majored in physics, and decided that we didn't need to believe in miracles, because we have physics to explain everything. This was Bill's agnostic stage. Of course, he notes—Paul had a miracle on the road to Damascus, and Bill also experienced many, many signs of God's faithfulness (not on the road to Damascus, but basically the same thing).
Well, Bill believes now that he was wrong—miracles do happen, even to physicists, and now he knows that the purpose of life is indeed to know, love, and serve God.
Bill grew up a good Catholic. For first communion, he and the other candidates had to memorize the catecism—50 questions and answers about Catholic faith. They were told that the Bishop would come and question them, and Bill didn't want to let his church down—so he memorized all fifty. Then the Bishop came, and the first student he asked to come up was the class clown. Bill thought, "This is going to be a disaster!"
However, the Bishop asked question #1: What is the purpose of life?
Bill thought, "Surely he knows the first one..." But he didn't! So the Bishop bent down and whispered in the boy's ear, and the boy said in a very loud voice, "The purpose of life is to know, love, and serve God." The Bishop patted him on the head and all the parents applauded.
Then Bill went to college. He thought, Gee, life is complicated, and what does the Bishop know about life, especially about girls?! Also, Bill majored in physics, and decided that we didn't need to believe in miracles, because we have physics to explain everything. This was Bill's agnostic stage. Of course, he notes—Paul had a miracle on the road to Damascus, and Bill also experienced many, many signs of God's faithfulness (not on the road to Damascus, but basically the same thing).
Well, Bill believes now that he was wrong—miracles do happen, even to physicists, and now he knows that the purpose of life is indeed to know, love, and serve God.
Emily Ruppel, Editor
Emily Ruppel has been writing novels since she was five years old, beginning with Blacky, (about a black horse), and quickly followed by Blacky Out West, neither of which can be purchased on Amazon.com.
Yet.
Until that day comes, Emily will be living and working in Pittsburgh as a doctoral student in the Rhetoric of Science program at Pitt. If you've ever heard someone say, "The data speak for themselves," then you might know what's at the heart of Emily's research when she says: "No, they don't."
Before heading to Pittsburgh, Emily enjoyed serving as the Associate Director of Communications for the American Scientific Affiliation and as the Web Editor for The BioLogos Foundation. She continues the editing and publishing of God & Nature magazine as a freelance project for the ASA. Contact Emily with questions and comments at: emily@asa3.org
Yet.
Until that day comes, Emily will be living and working in Pittsburgh as a doctoral student in the Rhetoric of Science program at Pitt. If you've ever heard someone say, "The data speak for themselves," then you might know what's at the heart of Emily's research when she says: "No, they don't."
Before heading to Pittsburgh, Emily enjoyed serving as the Associate Director of Communications for the American Scientific Affiliation and as the Web Editor for The BioLogos Foundation. She continues the editing and publishing of God & Nature magazine as a freelance project for the ASA. Contact Emily with questions and comments at: emily@asa3.org
Mike Clifford
Mike Clifford is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Nottingham. His research interests are in combustion, biomass briquetting, cookstove design and other appropriate technologies. He has published over 80 refereed conference and journal publications and has contributed chapters to books on composites processing and on appropriate and sustainable technologies. In 2009, he was voted "engineering lecturer of the year" by the Higher Education Academy's Engineering Subject Centre for his innovative teaching methods involving costume, drama, poetry and storytelling.
Karl Giberson
Karl Giberson holds a PhD in Physics from Rice University and has been a prominent writer, editor, and lecturer in the science/faith community for many years. Currently, Dr. Giberson teaches writing, and science-and-religion in the Cornerstone Program at Stonehill College. He lectures at universities, churches and other venues across the country. He is the editor and organizer of the Abraham’s Dice project and is also working on his 10th book, due for publication in 2014.
Ruth Hoppin
Ruth Hoppin is best known as the author of Priscilla's Letter: Finding the Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, a book in the field of New Testament studies that has been translated into Spanish, and she speaks and writes on this subject. Her general interest articles and poems have been widely published. Ruth lives in Daly City, a suburb of San Francisco, where she and her husband Stuart raised a family. The Hoppins are parishioners of Holy Child & St. Martin Episcopal Church, where she leads science and faith seminars and Bible discussion groups. Her interests include travel, studying French, and playing the recorder.
Jamin Hubner
Jamin Hübner is an American theologian from South Dakota. He is a graduate of Dordt College (BA Theology), Reformed Theological Seminary (MA Religion), the University of South Africa (ThD Systematic Theology), and is currently a graduate student (MS) at Southern New Hampshire University. He serves as the Director of Institutional Effectiveness and founding Chair of Christian Studies at John Witherspoon College in the Black Hills.
Randy Isaac
Randy Isaac is a solid-state physics research scientist and executive director of the American Scientific Affiliation (ASA), where he has been a member since 1976 and a fellow since 1996. Isaac received his bachelor’s degree from Wheaton College in Illinois and his doctorate in physics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He joined IBM to work at the Thomas J. Watson Research Center in 1977 and most recently served as the vice-president of systems technology and science for the company.
Olivia Peterson
Olivia Peterson is studying English and Biology at Stonehill College, and plays varsity softball. She worked with Karl Giberson on the Abraham’s Dice conference at Stonehill in November, and is an editorial assistant on the forthcoming book from Oxford University Press.
Carol Ruppel
Carol Ruppel taught English and creative writing at Model Laboratory School on the campus of Eastern Kentucky University for 13 years and holds a BA in studio art and an M.Ed. in Teaching English as a Second Language (ESL). Her classroom experience also includes 20 years of ESL instruction, working first with refugees and then college students. Among the highlights of her career have been a sabbatical year at the Slovak Agricultural University in Nitra, Slovakia, where she co-authored a textbook on research writing through a Fulbright grant, and a transformative summer at the Bread Loaf School of English at Middlebury College in Vermont. She recently left her job at EKU to pursue other interests, which include writing, art, mission work, various volunteer activities, and of course, photography.
Mark Shelhamer
Mark Shelhamer is on leave from his faculty research position at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, currently serving as Chief Scientist for the NASA Human Research Program. His research interests include human sensorimotor function and adaptation to space flight, with an emphasis on mathematical modeling. He is also an avid jazz drummer and amateur radio operator.
Mike Arnold
Mike Arnold, PhD, is Distinguished Research Professor of Genetics at the University of Georgia. He holds a B.Sc. in Botany and a M.Sc. in Zoology from Texas Tech University, and a Ph.D. in Population Biology from the Australian National University. Mike has concentrated his research work in the area of evolutionary genetics, particularly the study of natural hybridization. His study of Louisiana Irises has become a classic example of the role of hybridization in adaptive evolution and speciation. Mike is author of three books and more than 120 academic articles, the specifics of which may be found here.
Ruth Bancewicz
Ruth Bancewicz is a Senior Research Associate at The Faraday Institute for Science and Religion, Cambridge (UK), where she currently works on positive expressions of the science-faith dialogue. Ruth studied genetics at Aberdeen University, and completed a PhD at Edinburgh University. She then spent two years as a part-time postdoctoral researcher at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell Biology, Edinburgh University, while also working as the Development Officer for Christians in Science. She moved to the Faraday Institute in 2006 to develop resources on Science and Christianity – a project that generated the Test of FAITH materials, the first of which were published in 2009. Ruth blogs at Science and Belief, and her latest book, God in the Lab: How Science Enhances Faith will be published by Monarch in January 2015.
Mike Beidler
A retired U.S. Navy commander, Mike Beidler currently resides in the Washington DC Metro Area and works in international business development for a major aerospace/defense company. Mike holds an MS in Global Leadership from the University of San Diego, a BA in Political Science from the University of Michigan, and an AA in Persian-Farsi from the U.S. Army’s Defense Language Institute. Mike is President of the DC Metro Section of the American Scientific Affiliation (ASA), a member of the National Center for Science Education (NCSE), and helps administer the Facebook group Celebrating Creation by Natural Selection.
Karissa D. Carlson
Karissa Carlson graduated summa cum laude from Northwestern College in 2003 and earned a doctorate in biochemistry from the University of Iowa in 2008. She held biochemistry teaching assistantships at Iowa and was awarded a predoctoral fellowship from the American Heart Association in 2006. Her research on the kinetic mechanisms by which damaged DNA is replicated by specialized DNA polymerases has been published in Molecular and Cellular Biology and Proceedings of the National Academy of Science and presented at the Biocatalysis and Bioprocessing Conference.
Edward B. (Ted) Davis
Ted Davis is Fellow of the History of Science for the BioLogos Foundation and Professor of the History of Science at Messiah College. At Messiah, Davis teaches courses on historical and contemporary aspects of Christianity and science and directs the Central Pennsylvania Forum for Religion and Science.
Lynn Billman
Lynn L. Billman retired in September 2013 from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), a Department of Energy laboratory in Golden, Colorado. Lynn grew up in Chicago, and loved chemistry, physics, and math in high school. She graduated with a BS in chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley, and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. She went to work as an analytical chemist with Chevron, and later moved into management analysis and planning. Making a big move with her husband from California to Colorado, she landed a job (finally!) as a science writer with what later became the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. During more than 26 years of service, Lynn’s work spanned all technology and mission areas in support of NREL executive management, research program planning, campus design and sustainability, communications, and energy market and policy analysis. Her career is a testimony to all the different ways a person can apply a chemistry degree! She became a Christian at a women’s retreat in 1990, and has served in a variety of churches since then. Lynn’s passion is helping people succeed, and has taken on the challenge of developing the ASA affiliate group "Christian Women in Science.” She lives in Lakewood, Colorado with her German Shepherd Toby, and enjoys having all her children and grandchildren nearby.
Dorothy Boorse
Dorothy Boorse is a professor of biology at Gordon College and is interested in wetland ecology, invertebrates, vernal pools and salt marshes. She is also passionate about increasing women and minorities in science, science and faith communities, and literary science. She is particularly interested in science and non-scientists—how science is portrayed in culture, and how people relate science and faith. She loves being outdoors and loves wetlands more than just about anything.
Stephen Contakes and Kylie Miller
Stephen Contakes is an assistant professor of Chemistry at Westmont College in Santa Barbara where he teaches courses in analytical, inorganic, physical, and nonmajors chemistry, along with a senior seminar focusing on issues of science and faith. His research interests span synthetic inorganic, bioinorganic, and environmental chemistry although he is also has interests in exploring the present and historical connections between chemistry and Christian faith. He has been active in the ASA's Southern California local section since its inception in 2010 and currently serves the chapter as its secretary. When not engaged in teaching or scholarly pursuits he enjoys spending time with his wife and three children.
Kylie Miller is a 2014 graduate of Westmont college, with degrees in Chemistry, Biology, and English. A native a Visalia, CA, Kylie plans to attend medical school and is currently studying in a baccalaureate program at UC Davis.
Kylie Miller is a 2014 graduate of Westmont college, with degrees in Chemistry, Biology, and English. A native a Visalia, CA, Kylie plans to attend medical school and is currently studying in a baccalaureate program at UC Davis.
Abby Hodges
Abby M. Hodges is an associate professor of chemistry at Mid-America Nazarene University. Her lifelong scientific interest is understanding the chemical forces that drive protein-protein interactions. Each discovery uncovers a slightly different approach to the protein folding problem designed by the most creative Creator; similar in many ways to the bin of Legos continuously being used to build a slightly different version of a monster truck by her two little boys. Her favorite part of her job is helping young Christians who have a passion for science find a way to live integrated lives in their personal, professional, and faith communities.
Ann Pederson
Ann Milliken Pederson teaches Christian theology at Augustana College, with particular emphases in religion and medical sciences, doctrine of creation, and Lutheran constructive theology. She is also an adjunct associate professor in the section for ethics and humanities at theSanford School of Medicine of the University of South Dakota. Pederson has written four books, entries in the Oxford Handbook of Religion and Science, and numerous articles in Zygon, Word and World, and other periodicals. Pederson is an ordained pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
Janet Warren
Janet Warren has been practising Family Medicine for 20 years, with a special interest in mental health care and counselling. She recently attained her PhD in Theology and published her thesis as Cleansing the Cosmos: A Biblical Model for Conceptualizing and Counteracting Evil. Her current research interests include the integration of psychology/neuroscience and theology. Janet has been involved with CSCA since 2011 and is excited to be part of the executive council.
Heather Looy
Heather Looy is passionate about humans as “embodied spirits, inspirited bodies.” She received a Ph.D. in biological psychology from McMaster University, and explores human sexuality and gender, food attitudes and choices, evolutionary psychology and science-religion dialogue, and mind-body relationships. She loves to help people understand the value and limits of biopsychological research for dealing justly with real-life issues of reproductive technology, creation care, gender, sexuality, and global food concerns.
William R. Nesbitt
William R. Nesbitt, M.D., board certified in geriatrics as well as hospice and palliative medicine, is regional medical director of hospice services for Sutter Care at Home, Sutter Health Systems, for the Sacramento/Yolo County Region, in Northern California. He is also a Christian writer whose work has appeared in Christianity Today, Focus on the Family, and other major national and international Christian publications.
John Pohl
John F. Pohl MD is a professor of pediatrics and a pediatric gastroenterologist at Primary Children’s Medical Center (University of Utah) in Salt Lake City, Utah. You can follow John at @Jfpohl on Twitter.
Steve Roels
Steve Roels holds a bachelor's in biology from Calvin College and a master's in ecology and evolutionary biology from the University of Kansas. He is currently working on a PhD in zoology at Michigan State University. He is a member of River Terrace Christian Reformed Church in East Lansing, MI.
Craig Story
Craig Story is an Associate Professor of Biology and Director of Pre-Health Studies at Gordon College in Wenham, MA. His research interests have centered around immunology and molecular biology. Craig also spends a good deal of time doing pre-health advising, also known as "premed" advising.
Lowell Bliss
Lowell Bliss is the director of Eden Vigil (www.edenvigil.org), an organization which mobilizes the seven components of environmental missions projects. He led the writing team for the Lausanne Creation Care Call to Action and is the author of Environmental Missions: Planting Churches and Trees (William Carey Library, 2013).
Eric Kretschmer
Eric Kretschmer is currently the Pastor of Young Adults, Youth, and Children's Ministry Chapel By The Sea in Anchorage, Alaska.
Life Before Alaska (1992-1995): After graduating from UC Davis, Eric worked in a human forensics DNA Laboratory which involved work on paternity suits and criminal cases.
Life in Alaska: (1995-Present): Eric and his family moved to Anchorage, Alaska in January 1995 when he was hired by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to work in the Genetics Laboratory. His initial work involved screening salmonid genomes for possible damage caused by hydrocarbon exposure to genomes from the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill. In 2001 Eric was hired by the US Fish and Wildlife Conservation Genetics Laboratory in Anchorage to coordinate and work on various ESA-related projects, including salmonid and Sea Otter genetics. In 2009 he shifted careers (and fields), going into full-time ministry at Chapel By the Sea as the Youth Director. At that time he also entered into Bethel Theological Seminary‘s M.A. Christian Thought program at St. Paul, MN, graduating in June 2012.
Life Before Alaska (1992-1995): After graduating from UC Davis, Eric worked in a human forensics DNA Laboratory which involved work on paternity suits and criminal cases.
Life in Alaska: (1995-Present): Eric and his family moved to Anchorage, Alaska in January 1995 when he was hired by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to work in the Genetics Laboratory. His initial work involved screening salmonid genomes for possible damage caused by hydrocarbon exposure to genomes from the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill. In 2001 Eric was hired by the US Fish and Wildlife Conservation Genetics Laboratory in Anchorage to coordinate and work on various ESA-related projects, including salmonid and Sea Otter genetics. In 2009 he shifted careers (and fields), going into full-time ministry at Chapel By the Sea as the Youth Director. At that time he also entered into Bethel Theological Seminary‘s M.A. Christian Thought program at St. Paul, MN, graduating in June 2012.
Martin LaBar
Martin LaBar was born in Wisconsin, in an area so sparsely populated, and mostly unspoiled, that there were only 15 in his high school graduating class. He received a degree in science from the University of Wisconsin, Superior, and a doctorate in genetics and zoology from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He was professor of science at Southern Wesleyan University, Central, South Carolina, where he developed and taught a course in bioethics, which combined environmental and medical ethics, until his retirement. He was a member of the Ecological Society of America. He is a Fellow of the American Scientific Affiliation, and is married, with two daughters and two grandsons, and an active member of a Wesleyan church congregation. He blogs at sunandshield.blogspot.com, and is a member of Flickr.
Grace Mican
Grace Mican is a sophomore Environmental Studies major at Bellarmine University. Aside from vegetarianism she is passionate about her education and flamenco dance career. She was raised in Louisville, KY but after college she plans to travel to see what the world has to offer.
Carol Owens
Carol Owens and her husband, Jimmy Owens, and have been creating material for Christian ministry for more than thirty years. Their musical productions such as Come Together, If My People, The Witness, and Ants’hillvania (for children—A Grammy & Dove nominee,) have been published by Lexicon Music, Sparrow (EMI), Maranatha! and Word Music. Their non-fiction books for songwriters and intercessors have been published by Fleming H. Revell, Word Books and Foursquare Media. They’ve also presented Schools of Music Ministry to train Christian musicians in Asia, Europe, the UK and… Texas.
At last! Now that They’re “retired,” they finally have time to explore poetry and fiction writing. Their latest effort is a 5-star Christian suspense novel, Sussex Cove. To read complimentary chapters of Sussex Cove, click here: www.sussexcove.com. Or visit: jimmyandcarolowens.com and try our blogs.
At last! Now that They’re “retired,” they finally have time to explore poetry and fiction writing. Their latest effort is a 5-star Christian suspense novel, Sussex Cove. To read complimentary chapters of Sussex Cove, click here: www.sussexcove.com. Or visit: jimmyandcarolowens.com and try our blogs.
Bob Sluka
Robert Sluka received his Ph.D. in marine biology from the University of Miami. In addition to his work with A Rocha, he is a consultant living in the UK working with (and wanting to work with more) NGOs to help them integrate marine conservation into their programs. His research focuses on the application of ecological principles to the conservation and management of marine ecosystems, especially coral reefs. Additionally, he is exploring the interaction between marine conservation and theology as well as the impact of Christians in the fields of biodiversity conservation and poverty alleviation.
David L. Wilcox
David L. Wilcox is a population geneticist whose research Interests include theoretical models of biological origins, the nature of fitness, human origins, and the relationship of faith and science. His current research project is a three year grant from the BioLogos foundation titled, “Becoming Human – developing a model consistent with theological concerns of for the appearance of full humanity based on recent discoveries of human functionality.”
He is also the author of God and Evolution: a Faith-based Understanding.
He is also the author of God and Evolution: a Faith-based Understanding.
Callula Xu
Callula Xu is a nine-year-old prodigy who speaks Mandarin at home and English in her Bay Area (CA) middle school. With her vivid imagination, she has already had two children's books published. G&N columnist Walt Hearn was so struck by her astoundingly adult vocabulary and use of words that he has contributed a Foreword for a forthcoming collection of her poems—which, he says, are definitely for grown-ups.
Owen Gingerich
Owen Gingerich is a former Research Professor of Astronomy and of the History of Science at Harvard University, and a senior astronomeremeritus at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. In addition to his research and teaching, he has written many books on the history of astronomy.
Dave Harrity
Dave Harrity is the founder and director of Antler, a place for those interested in the intersection of faith and imagination. He’s also author of “Morning and What Has Come Since: Poems,” which was nominated for a Pushcart Prize, Kentucky Literary Award, and The Conference of Christianity and Literature’s Book-of-the-Year Citation. His poems have appeared widely in journals and magazine internationally and stateside.
Mary Harwell Sayler
Mary Harwell Sayler, a lifelong lover of Christ, the Bible, and the church in all its parts, began writing poems as a child, but as an adult, wrote almost everything except poetry. Her traditionally published works included everything from inspirational novels, Bible stories, children’s “take-home papers,” and a 7-book devotional series to 2 life-health encyclopedias and a school library resource on prescription drugs before she finally stopped freaking out every time she tried to put together a book of poem. After placing 2 or 300 poems with journals, anthologies, and e-zines, it “suddenly” dawned on her to see if she had 100 or so poems on nature themes. She did, and in 2012, the environmentally-sensitive Hiraeth Press published Living in the Nature Poem, which can be found on their website, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, her website <http://www.marysayler.com/> , and most of the social networks where virtual friends with their own agendas put up with her commands to buy her book more than real friends do.
Grace Buchanan
Grace Buchanan is a mother of three, has been a Sunday school teacher for over three decades, and is certified in elementary education, reading, and K-12 history. She holds a B.S. in Education from Gordon College, an M.A. in Reading Education from the University of South Florida, an M.S. in Christian Counseling from Philadelphia Biblical University, and is a certified Learning Disabilities Teacher Consultant in New Jersey. Grace has volunteered in various healing prayer ministries for over ten years. She is married to J. Scott Buchanan, chemical engineer and author of letterstocreationists.wordpress.com.
Jane Gannon
Jane Gannon has 20 years of experience in innovation management as a meeting facilitator, focus group moderator and trainer of work teams in invention and creative problem-solving skills. Prior to joining Vincent & Associates, Ltd. in 1994, she was a consultant at Synectics, Inc., where she worked with a range of clients in publishing, banking, food services and consumer package goods, and where she helped develop the field of "technography" or computer-enhanced meetings. Jane also worked in public relations and for several newspapers as a graphic artist and reporter. Jane received her B.A. in Politics and Government from Ohio Wesleyan University and a Certificate in Publishing from University of California at Berkeley. She recently earned her teaching credential at Sonoma State University.
Sy Garte
Sy Garte is a former research scientist in the field of environmental health sciences, specializing in gene environment interactions and population genetics. He is a member of the Washington DC chapter of ASA, and has been a contributor to the Biologos Forum. Dr. Garte, raised as an atheist, has been a Christian for the past 20 years.
Denis O Lamoureux
Denis O. Lamoureux is an associate professor of science and religion at St. Joseph's College in the University of Alberta. His appointment is the first tenure-track position in Canada dedicated to teaching and research on the relationship between scientific discovery and Christian faith.
Harold Sikkema
Harold Sikkema is a visual artist, based in Hamilton, Canada. A graduate of McMaster University, he converges sculptural, photographic, and poetic resources into "digital tapestries": hyper-detailed composite images under acrylic skin. Emerging from within the rigourus soil of Calvinist theology, his art explores the micro and macro of a cosmic human dance with landscape. Harold aims his word-and-image-smithing towards a fertile aesthetic hermeneutic for God's world. Find evidence at www.nsitu.ca <http://www.nsitu.ca> .
David Campbell
David Campbell's degrees are in biology and geology, including both morphological work on fossils and molecular work on modern organisms, primarily mollusks. He is currently teaching geology and biology at Gardner-Webb University (Boiling Springs, NC); before that, he taught biology in a visiting position, did postdoctoral work on molecular systematics of imperiled freshwater mollusks, and was a collections assistant, organizing and documenting collections at the Paleontological Research Institution (Ithaca, NY). His theological background is Reformed, specifically Presbyterian, and he grew up in the church.
Tim Middleton
Tim Middleton is just starting a PhD in Earth Sciences at the University of Oxford, studying earthquakes in Central Asia. He is also heavily involved in a new organisation called Geology for Global Development (http://www.gfgd.org/), which aims to encourage young geoscientists to use their knowledge of the Earth to help fight poverty and improve lives.
Having spent his undergraduate years in Cambridge, he is an Associate of the Faraday Institute of Science and Religion and has been fortunate enough to participate in many of their seminars and conferences. He is also a member of Christians in Science. He spends much of his ‘spare’ time reading theology books and hopes that at some point in the future he’ll be able to this as his day job!
Having spent his undergraduate years in Cambridge, he is an Associate of the Faraday Institute of Science and Religion and has been fortunate enough to participate in many of their seminars and conferences. He is also a member of Christians in Science. He spends much of his ‘spare’ time reading theology books and hopes that at some point in the future he’ll be able to this as his day job!
Ryan Althaus
Ryan is an avid marathon runner, ironman triathlete, and certified triathlon coach who, upon receiving his M. Div. from Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, started a ministry for endurance athletes called Team Sweaty Sheep. Currently, the program is launching an eating disorder and exercise addiction support ministry in Louisville and working in partnership with the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. The program, whose motto is “re-creation through recreation,” is working hard to bring the body back into holistic worship.
Amy Chai
Dr. Amy Fogelstrom Chai, MD, MS received her BA in Biology from Johns Hopkins, followed by an MD from her home state school, Indiana University School of Medicine. She trained as an Internist at the University of Michigan, and followed her residency training with a fellowship in Academic Medicine and a masters degree in Epidemiology at University of Virginia Health Sciences Center. Her special areas of interest are teaching and learning in the outpatient setting, as well as the care of the complex medical patient.
Eugene Lemcio
Although Dr. Eugene Lemcio taught for 36 years at Seattle Pacific University with an M.Div. from Asbury Theological Seminary and a doctorate in New Testament from Cambridge University (Trinity College), he began his academic career at Houghton College with a B.S. in zoology (and a minor in chemistry). He came to faith among a tiny congregation of pre-WW1 and post-WW2 Ukrainian Baptist immigrants in Chester, PA. Later immersion in the intellectual and spiritual traditions of Anglo-Methodism acquainted him with the so-called "Wesleyan Quadrilateral": Scripture, reason, tradition and experience (=experiment). This provided him with a paradigm for integrating the disciplines reflected in his poem, “Missa Solemnis.”
Holly Ordway
Dr. Holly Ordway is a poet, academic, and Christian apologist on the faculty of Houston Baptist University. She holds a PhD in English from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, an MA in English from UNC Chapel Hill, and an MA in apologetics from Biola University. She writes on the role of imagination in apologetics, with special attention to the work of CS Lewis and Charles Williams. She is the author of Not God’s Type: A Rational Academic Finds a Radical Faith; her website is hieropraxis.com <http://hieropraxis.com> .
Benjamin Drum
Ben Drum is a second year medical student in the University of Washington Medical Scientist (MD/PhD) Training Program. He hopes to become a pediatric cardiologist.
Thomas Jay Oord
Thomas Jay Oord is a theologian, philosopher, and scholar of multi-disciplinary studies. He is the author or editor of a dozen books and professor at Northwest Nazarene University, Nampa, Idaho. Oord is known for his contributions to research on love, relational theology, science and religion, Wesleyan/Holiness/Church of the Nazarene thought, Evangelical theology, and postmodernism.
Read his blog at www.thomasjayoord.com.
Read his blog at www.thomasjayoord.com.
J. Kyle Hughes
J. Kyle Hughes is an English teacher in western Iowa. He has endorsements in English, Speech-Theater, and psychology and is currently pursuing graduate studies in English at the University of Northern Iowa. Hughes’ first church pastor encouraged him to, “keep asking questions,” so he has, through a decade of debate coaching and directing plays such as Flowers for Algernon. When he is not teaching and writing, he enjoys spending time with his wife and children and composing music. If you would like to hear one of his musical mediations, check-out http://youtu.be/7V6szsTytbk
Kendall Vanderslice
Kendall Vanderslice is a student at Wheaton College, studying anthropology.
Mary Wood
Mary grew up in rural Bedfordshire in the UK, popped up north to York to do an undergraduate masters in Chemistry, including a year working in industrial Holland where she discovered a love of bicycles and stroopwaffels, and has now gravitated back to Cambridge where she's making a vague attempt to start a PhD in chemistry, studying adsorption onto metal surfaces at the solid/liquid interface.
Being blessed by growing up in a loving Christian family, she herself became a Christian while on a summer camp in her teens, and finds it increasingly exciting the more she finds evidence of God's handiwork in creation through the revelations of science.
On bad days in the lab she dreams of living on a farm or opening a books and cakes shop and whiling away Sunday afternoons at village cricket matches.
Being blessed by growing up in a loving Christian family, she herself became a Christian while on a summer camp in her teens, and finds it increasingly exciting the more she finds evidence of God's handiwork in creation through the revelations of science.
On bad days in the lab she dreams of living on a farm or opening a books and cakes shop and whiling away Sunday afternoons at village cricket matches.