Biography

Linda Knight
Earth Science Teacher
Houston, Texas

Dr. Knight received a B.A. in English Literature from Knox College (1965) and then an M.A.T. in Earth Science (1970) and an Ed.D. in Science Education from Indiana University (1975). She entered college intending to be an English teacher but found her first geology course (taken to meet college requirements) to be so interesting that she kept signing up for more geology courses. Eventually she redirected her goals toward teaching earth science. Over her twenty-three years of teaching in the public schools of both Indiana and Texas, Dr. Knight has found that her English, Earth Science, and Teaching knowledge have blended together to both enrich her teaching and support a variety of exciting career-related projects. She has co-authored a widely-used Earth Science textbook, developed a number of curricular units for her school district, and created topographic landform models that are commerically available through Wards Scientific. She has served as president for both the Texas Earth Science Teachers Association and the National Earth Science Teacher Association, as well as serving as a member of the Education Advisory committees for AGU and GSA. She created Earth Focus, a student environmental journal (http://www.rice.edu/armadillo/Projects/Ecodillo/Earthfocus). Distributed nationally, this journal offers middle and high school students a means of publishing their own research and ideas about earth and environmental topics. Dr. Knight has received a number of grants and won several awards, most notably, the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science Teaching, the GSA's Excellenece in Earth Science Teaching Award, and the Business Week Award for Instructional Innovation. Dr. Knight is presently serving as co-director of the Rice University/Houston ISD Model Science Lab, a middle school enhancement program in the Houston Independent School District, Houston, Texas.

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