Gary Smith is a high school physics teacher, department chair and curriculum developer for the CATE project. He has taught at St. John’s Preparatory School in Danvers, MA for over 35 years, and has long been interested in the connections between technology, the environment, economics and human progress. He holds a BS degree in Physics from the University of Massachusetts and an MEd from Northeastern University, and engaged in a two-year RET fellowship at Boston University’s Photonics Lab. One of the founding members of sustainability efforts at his school, he has worked to support reduction, recycling, and composting initiatives, as well as leading carbon footprint studies through the University of New Hampshire’s SIMAP tool.
His professional efforts center on creating spaces within science curricula for students to consider and sort through the realities of climate change, as well as efforts to build a more just and sustainable world. An avid lover of the outdoors, Gary is equally happy hiking, snowboarding or kayaking with friends or family, and delights in commuting to work by bike. As a new grandparent, he is motivated by the knowledge that each of us borrows the earth from future generations.