Thomas Nelson, Ph.D.

Tom taught secondary school science in northern California before earning an M.A. in Science Education at Sacramento State University, and then a Ph.D. in the College of Education/School of Natural Resources at the University of Arizona, where he fell in love with the Sonoran Desert.

He was an active member of the Arizona Association for Learning in and about the Environment served on the Arizona Governor’s Task Force on Environmental Education, and was a Visiting Professor at the University of Montana. He is Professor Emeritus, School of Education at the University of the Pacific, where he served as Director of the Doctoral Program.

He has published widely across various fields of study, including eco-justice, environmental education, curriculum studies, teacher education, social justice, place-based learning, politics of education, and critical theory and pedagogy. He has served as faculty chair, sitting on numerous academic boards, and spent twelve years as editor of Teacher Education Quarterly, and twelve years on the Board of Directors of the California Council on Teacher Education, was an active member in the American Educational Research Association, and continues to provide educational consulting services. He lives with his wife, Teri, in the Empire Mountains.