FEATURES
MEET Chris Gawle Upper School Science Teacher and Sustainability Coordinator Education: BS in biology, Bates College; MS in marine sciences, University of Charleston Classes taught: 9th grade Biology, AP Environmental Science, Environmental Issues, IB Environmental Societies, Marine Biology “I‘ve been teaching science at Country Day since 2002 and previously was in graduate school investigating the effects of watershed development on the environmental quality and fauna of tidal creeks in Charleston. I am passionate about teaching marine and environmental science and I am always striving to inspire my students to consider how they are connected globally to other peoples and to nature itself. I tell my students that if they aren’t outraged by something after taking my class, they haven’t been paying attention. “I’ve been married to my wife, Julie, since 2008, and I am an outdoor enthusiast who enjoys traveling, hiking, autograph collecting, and SCUBA diving. If time and space were no limitation, I would thoroughly enjoy having dinner with Charles Darwin, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, and Carl Sagan.”
“That was powerful and I remember many days walking out of his class a little bit enraged. Then you get over the dramatic phase and ask ‘what can I do about it?’ The motivation I walked out of that class with carried over to college and I declared my major in environmental studies during my first semester at Middlebury. Today in my career, because I know the science and how systems are supposed to work, I am able to help change human behavior and make a difference in climate change,” says Sarah. Whether or not his students choose to pursue a career in environmental science or sustainability, Mr. Gawle’s goal is to get 36
PERSPECTIVES
them ready for the next level. While he is proud of the fact that his students consistently earn top marks on the AP exam (five 4s and five 5s in 2017, for example), he says, “I want my students to leave for college feeling ready to handle an undergraduate thesis. I love hearing that they’re successfully preparing lab reports in their college science classes and that their professors are using their reports as examples to the rest of the class.” “He may have trained me a bit too well,” jokes James Furr ’15, a junior studying sustainable technology and physics at Appalachian State University. “The projects I did in Mr. Gawle’s class
were tougher than the assignments I have had so far in my sustainable development courses. It felt like real science; there are not a lot of classes that give you that kind of hands-on experience, even in college.” James, who is a member of Appalachian’s successful solar vehicle team, also credits the biology and organic chemistry classes he took while at Country Day in influencing him and preparing him for college. Christina sums up the influence Mr. Gawle has on his students this way: “He helped me realize I could make an incredible career out of something that I cared about that is also outdoors, adventurous, and important.”
