Massachusetts Hall of Fame for Science Educators

Charles E. "Chuck" Roth (1997)

Charles "Chuck" Roth started as a teacher of General Science and Biology in Ardsley, New York in 1956. He also acted as Coordinator of Elementary Science in that system. He entered graduate school at Cornell in 1960 with a Shell Assistantship in Science Education and supervised practice teachers in Biology there. He also assisted with the early development of the BSCS Green version. His Masters thesis was on Conservation Education Activities for Urban Children. After a brief stint as Director of the Rye (NY) Nature Center, Charles joined the Massachusetts Audubon Society, where he directed the Society's statewide education programs for 27 years.

After early retirement from the Audubon, Roth worked with the Education Development Center in Newton, developing curriculum modules for both the Improving Elementary and Improving Urban Middle School Science Projects. At EDC he did training in development of interdisciplinary curriculum units with the Indianapolis, Indiana area schools and did staff training with the Egyptian Ministry of Education. He consulted on the development of Environmental Education materials for Papua, New Guinea and for Costa Rica.

Through his consulting practice, Earthlore Associates, Charles has been involved with the development of a Middle East Environmental Education Forum, a biodiversity program with the American Museum of Natural History, educational development at the Thoreau Institute, TERC's Global Lab Project, and development of Benchmarks on the Way to environmental Literacy for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs. He served seven and a half years as Chair or Co-Chair of the Secretary's Advisory Group on Environmental Education.

Special Honors:

• Received an Environmental Service Award for Environmental Education Leadership in 1998, awarded by the Massachusetts Association of Conservation Commission
• Inducted into the Massachusetts Hall of Fame for Science Educators in 1997
• Received an Environmental Merit Award in April of 1997
• Recipient of the Commonwealth Award in Interpretive Sciences in March of 1997, awarded by the Massachusetts Cultural Council
• Received a Taft Campus Award for Outstanding Contributions to Outdoor Education in 1990, awarded by Northern Illinois University
• Received a Distinguished Service Award for Outstanding Contributions in the Field of Environmental Education in 1987, awarded by the North American Association for Environmental Education
• Received a Project WILD Director’s Award in 1987
• Recipient of the New England Environmental Education Association Award for Outstanding Contributions to Environmental Education in New England in 1980
• Received a Conservation Education Award in 1966, awarded by the National Wildlife Federation

Last Modified: October 7, 2004