Michael Bentley is a native of Roanoke, Virginia. He earned degrees from King's College (BS, Biology), University of Pennsylvania (MS, Elementary Education) and the University of Virginia (EdD, Science Education. He currently serves as Education Associate at the Virginia Museum of Natural History (www.vmnh.net) and directs the Science Institute for Teachers at Hollins University (www1.hollins.edu/classes/hesit/index.html). Since 2007 he has served on the national Expert Panel for Education.com. He is retired from the science and environmental education faculty of the University of Tennessee and held a similar position at Virginia Tech and National-Louis University in Chicago. Among his two-dozen books are Connecting Children to Nature (2014), An Educator's Field Guide (2011) and Teaching Constructivist Science (2007). He is married to the Rev. Susan E. Bentley, who is Rector of St. James Episcopal Church, Roanoke, Virginia. They have three children and a Golden Retriever reside in nearby Salem.