With over thirty years teaching science and facilitating professional development experiences, author and educator, Merrie Koester, Ph.D, is motivating elementary and middle school students to read, enjoy, and actively DO science. The Agnes Pflumm series of science education novels are the product of decades of academic research, writing, and curriculum development on teaching STEM through the Arts (or STE[A]M). These novels are also the cornerstone of Read for Science Publishing, founded by Dr. Koester for the purpose of showing how youth can use STEM knowledge/skills and creative problem solving to READ THE WORLD and make evidence-based decisions.  Teachers nationwide are using her novels to incorporate more reading, reflective writing, critical thinking, drawing, and other creative arts into their science curricula. Enthusiastic students find that the Agnes Pflumm novels make both science and reading engaging and fun.

Dr. Koester, a Charleston, SC native, is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Furman University, completed her master’s degree at University of Hawaii, Manoa and her doctorate at the University of South Carolina. As a science literacy and communication specialist, she employs storymaking methods to build inclusive forms of science education She is adjunct professor of science education at the College of Charleston and founder/director  Kids Teaching Flood Resilience for the University of South Carolina Center for Science Education.  Her text, Science Teachers Who Draw: The Red Is Always There, narrates the journey of five science teachers who explored with their students and Dr. Koester the theory and practice of teaching science through drawing and visual thinking.