Science teacher part of biofuel research project

Published 3:59 pm Thursday, September 27, 2012

Cedarcrest High School science teacher Jeffery Wehr is new to the Riverview School District this fall.

He has extensive experience with science curriculum and bringing STEM educational offerings into the classroom.

For the past nine years Wehr has taught science at Odessa High School. He holds bachelor’s degrees in biology, with emphasis in both zoological and environmental sciences, and music from the University of Montana. He received his master’s degree in science education from Montana State University.

Wehr was the 2011 Teacher of the Year in Washington. He has received numerous awards and honors, such as serving as the keynote speaker for SBI Tech Camp, receiving a Letter of Congressional Commendation, and serving on the National Junior Science and Humanities Symposium.

Most recently Wehr spent part of his summer attending a research program at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Oak Ridge, Tenn., where he worked with a team of scientists and other teachers studying new sources of bio-fuel. He was one of only 20 teachers from across the country selected to participate in the project, through the Siemens Teachers as Researchers (STARs) fellowship program.

“I am a research scientist at heart” said Wehr, “so it is an enormous honor to have been invited to the Oak Ridge National Laboratory as a STARs Fellow and now to share my experience with colleagues, students and student researchers.

“While at the ORNL, I had the opportunity to work with Dr. Barbara Evans, of ORNL’s Chemical Sciences: Special Projects Division. In addition, I and other STARs fellows participated in facility tours and seminars created to help us more effectively incorporate the overall research process into our classrooms.

“Each teacher also received a grant, to be used in the purchase of equipment and/or supplies for their classrooms.”

• Learn more about Cedarcrest High School at http://www.chs.riverview.wednet.edu/